[hjk05]

There isn’t a monopoly. It doesn’t take decades to get a generic on the market. Insulin is available in wallmart for 25$ per vial.

There is a definite problem in the US with drug pricing, and middlemen gauging the market, but it’s a straw man to claim new insulin products don’t bring any change. If you ask the patients there’s a world of difference between the cheap genetics and the main brand products, which is why they want the newer products and not the generics. But of cause patients also want the newer products at the same price as the generics which will never happen, even if the government fixes the drug pricing market.

[ng12]

> If you ask the patients there’s a world of difference between the cheap genetics and the main brand products

The main problem is the $25 insulin is R and not fast-acting. It's not the difference between generic and name-brand, it's about using an insulin that takes over twice as long to be absorbed by your body.

[hjk05]

It really boggles my mind that every article on insulin goes through this cycle: “the producers are scammers it the same product put out a hundred years ago but they have new patents!!!” “It’s cheaply available in the old form” “but that’s not the same product!!”

You can’t have it both ways. Cheap alternatives are available. But yes newer main brand products are better in tons of ways, which is not surprising as they are culmination of decades of research. You can’t both claim there are no differences and than want those differences in the cheaper generics.

[lostmymind66]

If the generics are $25, then I don't see a problem. It's cheaply available and this article is wrong.

[erinaceousjones]

Not all insulin is created equal, as the Vox article posted in this thread shows - https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/4/10/18302238/in... - different formulations vary in their effectiveness person-to-person regarding regulating blood sugar levels. For one person, the cheap ReliOn insulin from Walmart might allow them to manage their T1 diabetes, but for another person it might cause more incidences of hypo/hypergylcaemia.

The expensive, newer, patent-covered formulations like Lantus are what are prescribed over here in the UK - lucky that the NHS shields us from the ridiculous prices!

[jablongo2]

The problem is that the generics are equivalent to insulin from the 70's, when complications of type-1 diabetes were considered almost unavoidable. You can be super diligent and figure out how to manage your diet to make it work with the cheaper stuff, but that takes years of practice and conditioning. If you have to switch from something like humalog and an insulin pump, to injections of Regular insulin a two times a day or so, you are gonna be screwed.

[wishinghand]

The generic insulin is very low quality. Yes it could save my life, but it would incredibly hard to manage a healthy one.

[consp]

Most people will not be healthy with the generic insulin. There are wide verieties of treatment methods for vastly different people and medicine has come a long way. This "generic" human insulin replacement is a 40 year setback in treatment and will likely cause more secondary costs due to bad treatment.