# Horrifying human cost as 12 young Americans die because they can't afford insulin



## Northerner (Nov 29, 2019)

People in the UK are "rightly worried" about access to medicine under a post-Brexit Tory government that trades with the US, as "people with diabetes are dying on a fairly regular basis" in Donald Trump's America.

Since 2017, at least 12 young Americans have lost their lives because they couldn’t afford insulin. As the price of insulin rises, one in four US diabetics are resorting to rationing it, a study by Yale Diabetes Center found.

Pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi dominate the world’s insulin market.

This, combined with America’s sky-high drugs prices and profit-led health system, means once young people fall off their family’s insurance plan in their twenties, they struggle to afford the medication.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/horrifying-human-cost-12-young-20976753.amp


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## everydayupsanddowns (Nov 29, 2019)

I was at a meeting with NovoNordisk yesterday and everyone there made absolutely certain that these concerns were expressed and heard.


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## Sally71 (Nov 29, 2019)

I hope the companies who set such high prices are proud of themselves, I don't know how they can sleep at night 
I fact I think they should be put on trial for manslaughter
(Just my humble opinion, hope that comment is not considered inappropriate or offensive, mods please delete this message if so)


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## Andy HB (Nov 29, 2019)

Obscene, plain and simple. Americans should be utterly ashamed of themselves.

I hope that we never see such crass injustice in the UK. It is down to all of us to make sure of it and hold our MPs to account regarding the NHS.


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## Jodee (Nov 29, 2019)

I don't always believe some of the hype published myself, a lot is scaremongering.

It is sad if those 12 young American did die as a direct result of not being able to afford their insulin.  I do know of a 30 year old who didn't believe in going to a doctor preferring to go along with old family health care of herbs and such.  The poor man died of heart failure bought on by very high blood glucose, he must have been diabetic for a number of years and didn't know it.   With such a huge population there must be many thousands of Americans that don't seek help because of the costs if they are in that situation where they can't get their insurance cover for free medicine under Medicare.

In general, all persons 65 years of age or older who have been legal residents of the United States for at least five years are eligible for Medicare. People with disabilities under 65 may also be eligible if they receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.  I am not sure where insulin dependent diabetics would come under that, hopefully they would.  https://www.diabetes.org/resources/health-insurance/medicare


I did send a message to Camelot today suggesting all unclaimed prize monies should be going to support our NHS I am sure the British Public would be all for a better health care service and grateful to Camelot for supporting our NHS.  

Perhaps if they got a lot of suggestions from the public they may consider it.

Parliament is closed now but certainly e-petitions can be started for consideration in parliament.

There has been a couple already about our NHS:  https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions?q=NHS


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## Drummer (Nov 29, 2019)

Long ago I read the advice
If you wish to know the heart and soul of a nation do not look to its greatest buildings, its monuments or its leaders, seek the old, the poor, the feeble and the orphans and discover how they are treated, because then you will know what gods are worshipped there and you may judge accordingly.


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## Robin (Nov 29, 2019)

Jodee said:


> n general, all persons 65 years of age or older who have been legal residents of the United States for at least five years are eligible for Medicare. People with disabilities under 65 may also be eligible if they receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. I am not sure where insulin dependent diabetics would come under that, hopefully they would.


I don’t think they would, no. You need to be receiving social security support for your disability because it affects your ability to work, and even then, it doesn’t kick in for two years. Most people with diabetes needing insulin are able to work, so wouldn’t qualify. And even if you do qualify, two years' worth of insulin to self fund is going to cost an awful lot. So I think a lot of people in America are caught between a rock and a hard place, and end up funding (or not) their own insulin.


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## Jodee (Nov 29, 2019)

Robin said:


> I don’t think they would, no. You need to be receiving social security support for your disability because it affects your ability to work, and even then, it doesn’t kick in for two years. Most people with diabetes needing insulin are able to work, so wouldn’t qualify. And even if you do qualify, two years' worth of insulin to self fund is going to cost an awful lot. So I think a lot of people in America are caught between a rock and a hard place, and end up funding (or not) their own insulin.


We can't really know the statics but the link explains a bit about the ~American Medicare for Diabetes https://www.diabetes.org/resources/health-insurance/medicare

Working in Australia everyone working paid for private health insurance cover which meant they got 80% of costs refunded, generally if working the insurance is affordable but I don't know the entire details of how it works in the US other than what I have read and knowing that insurance is required.


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## mikeyB (Dec 5, 2019)

Well, America has the worst infant and maternal mortality rates in childbirth of any of the so-called civilised countries. The country has no shame.But anyone suggesting putting this right is condemned as a communist.


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## grovesy (Oct 3, 2020)

mujdey said:


> My friend is 22 years old and still has difficulty getting insulin, although he has diabetes for more than 7 years already. When we write letters to the health department, we just don't get a response. What should we do now?


Where are you in the world ?


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## Abi (Oct 3, 2020)

The situation in the US is cruel
And sometimes the attitude is "well they can just buy the cheaper stuff from Walmart"
Even that would be harder to afford especially taking into account increased cost of monitoring, for those on a low wage. And the same people with this crass attitude would probably have zero patience with service personnel if there was a delay in them being serrved due to needing a snack or hypo treatment as a result of using the older insulins...
Good old USA- where as soon as the birth canal is exited then rights disappear....


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## Abi (Oct 3, 2020)

Jodee said:


> I don't always believe some of the hype published myself, a lot is scaremongering.
> 
> It is sad if those 12 young American did die as a direct result of not being able to afford their insulin.  I do know of a 30 year old who didn't believe in going to a doctor preferring to go along with old family health care of herbs and such.  The poor man died of heart failure bought on by very high blood glucose, he must have been diabetic for a number of years and didn't know it.   With such a huge population there must be many thousands of Americans that don't seek help because of the costs if they are in that situation where they can't get their insurance cover for free medicine under
> 
> ...


Unfortunately the tide of public opinion appears to be turning against the NHS for perceived, and likely in some cases, actual neglect of non covid patients
All I can say is that most staff are doing their best in rather strange circumstances
I did telephone consultations from home for 2 months due to perceived higher risk due to D but have been back in work for 3 months and hope that we have the correct  balance of remote and F2F consultations...


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## Abi (Oct 3, 2020)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> I was at a meeting with NovoNordisk yesterday and everyone there made absolutely certain that these concerns were expressed and heard.


It would have been interesting to have been a fly on the wall.
I attended an educational meeting sponsored by them about 15 months ago and it was strongly hinted that they were not directly responsible for the appalling price hikes in the US and that it happens at other points within the "foodchain" or "insulin chain"


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## nonethewiser (Oct 3, 2020)

Should be national disgrace, America should hang its head in shame.


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## trophywench (Oct 3, 2020)

As you'll be well aware Abi - the public at large expect far too much from the NHS generally - just because some treatment or another has been invented and saves lives in Switzerland, folk think the NHS should be supplying it.  

At our surgery you have to ring for an appointment to be telephone triaged by a GP.  So you keep re dialling the number until you get through - can easily take half an hour and 50 or so redials only to be told they have no appointments available today, ring back tomorrow .....  they are all working from home still, as far as we can tell.  A nurses appt takes 3 or 4 weeks so if you need stitches removing for which you can't make an appt anyway until they discharge you from hospital - I reckon now you just have to let them fester and become embedded in that part of the anatomy.  It's worse now than it has ever been in my short time on earth, just the 70 years then.

That's knob all to do with the US - but the Donald does not listen to WHO because they don't agree with him and there's an end to it, so how the hell the rest of the world could bring pressure on anything or anyone there regarding public healthcare is completely beyond my ken.


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## Abi (Oct 3, 2020)

trophywench said:


> As you'll be well aware Abi - the public at large expect far too much from the NHS generally - just because some treatment or another has been invented and saves lives in Switzerland, folk think the NHS should be supplying it.
> 
> At our surgery you have to ring for an appointment to be telephone triaged by a GP.  So you keep re dialling the number until you get through - can easily take half an hour and 50 or so redials only to be told they have no appointments available today, ring back tomorrow .....  they are all working from home still, as far as we can tell.  A nurses appt takes 3 or 4 weeks so if you need stitches removing for which you can't make an appt anyway until they discharge you from hospital - I reckon now you just have to let them fester and become embedded in that part of the anatomy.  It's worse now than it has ever been in my short time on earth, just the 70 years then.



Blimey...
I wonder what the doctor (and nurse/HCA) to patient ratio is..
We occasionally have a patient state that they have been ringing for days but system mostly seems to work ok. I think that receptionists should log every call which results in  patient being told to try again another day- not patient details etc- just statistics- so we could be aware if this is a big or only occasional problem. They generally, if no appointments left, give the patient an opportunity to state what the problem is- so they can pass onto us to decide whether to " squeeze in" the patient same day.
10 000 patients, 5 full time GPs, one half time,and also a GP registrar who is competent but not up to speed yet, plus a nurse practitioner, 3 nurses and 3 HCAs plus dispensors so well staffed


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## trophywench (Oct 3, 2020)

No, receptionists at ours are NOT allowed to take messages.  This is precisely why granddaughter could not ask for Depo Provera.  After her previous relationship ended it has dropped off her previous repeat prescriptions (it's a long story but she couldn't register for that service online back then) and anyway nobody can order repeat scrips by phone unless there's a specific exception saying they can when they bring your name up on the bit of the system they are allowed to access.


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## grovesy (Oct 3, 2020)

I have been told be the recorded message on the line I have been second in line and still taken another 10-15 mins to get answered. I think my record is 45 minutes holding on.


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## mikeyB (Oct 4, 2020)

Bit of topic drift here. What has all this got to do with Americans dying because they can’t afford insulin?


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## trophywench (Oct 5, 2020)

So if the receptionist needs 15 minutes to deal with the previous caller (cos you have no idea who it was or what help they needed - or of course she needs the loo!) so bit the next one has to wait.

I'm talking about how long it actually takes to get it to ring in the first place rather than getting the engaged signal and even hear the 2 minutes recorded message.  The announcements about where you are in the queue go up to 12 after which you get the engaged signal.

Approaching 14000 patients between however many GPs, with 3 nurses none of whom can prescribe or increase doses, and no idea whatever about HCPs or Admin staff.  They advertise which languages which doctors can speak and that of course causes problems because if you only speak whatever and the doctor can't speak or understand the same, and the receptionist only speaks English.


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