Posted on Feb 7, 2023
Jackson County is suing drugmakers and pharmacies over the high price of insulin
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Insulin costs less than $2 per vial to make yet is sold for between $300-$700, according to a new court filing from Jackson County. The county is suing drugmakers like Eli Lilly and distributors like CVS Caremark for keeping the price of the life-saving drug artificially high.
Jackson County last month filed a lawsuit against insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers over unfair insulin costs. Several states, including Kansas and California, are also suing over the same concern.
The county says drugmakers Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi are working with distributors CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx to ensure the price of insulin continues to rise, even though it costs less to produce now than ever before.
Jackson County last month filed a lawsuit against insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers over unfair insulin costs. Several states, including Kansas and California, are also suing over the same concern.
The county says drugmakers Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi are working with distributors CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx to ensure the price of insulin continues to rise, even though it costs less to produce now than ever before.
Jackson County is suing drugmakers and pharmacies over the high price of insulin
Posted from kcur.org
Medical
Health
Drugs
Pharmaceuticals
Kansas City
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 7
Making a profit - Ok.
Making a big profit - Ok.
Price Gouging - Not Ok.
This is reminding me of Martin Shkreli (In September 2015, Shkreli was widely criticized when Turing obtained the manufacturing license for the antiparasitic drug Daraprim and raised its price by 5,455% (from US$13.50 to $750 per pill).
It's fair for Pharma to make a reasonable profit and that includes profit to account for the 'sunk costs' in research, marketing, etc. However, there are a lot of very shady practices going on... lack of competition, paying companies not to roll out a cheaper generic, etc.
Found a good article on the cost to manufacture the various brands of insulin at GoodRx*.
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* https://www.goodrx.com/healthcare-access/research/how-much-does-insulin-cost-compare-brands
Making a big profit - Ok.
Price Gouging - Not Ok.
This is reminding me of Martin Shkreli (In September 2015, Shkreli was widely criticized when Turing obtained the manufacturing license for the antiparasitic drug Daraprim and raised its price by 5,455% (from US$13.50 to $750 per pill).
It's fair for Pharma to make a reasonable profit and that includes profit to account for the 'sunk costs' in research, marketing, etc. However, there are a lot of very shady practices going on... lack of competition, paying companies not to roll out a cheaper generic, etc.
Found a good article on the cost to manufacture the various brands of insulin at GoodRx*.
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* https://www.goodrx.com/healthcare-access/research/how-much-does-insulin-cost-compare-brands
How Much Does Insulin Cost? Here’s How 28 Brands and Generics Compare - GoodRx
As Americans continue to confront the economic impact of COVID-19, prices for insulin have seen a small decline. From 2014 to 2019, the average cash price for insulins climbed substantially — the average price per insulin unit rose 54%, from $0.22 to $0.34. However, from January 2020 to October 2021, prices dropped 5% to $0.31.
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Too bad the politicians that are constantly elected and re-elected are on the side of big pharma.
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