Insulin

Diabetes Patients Are Starting To Beat Big Pharma’s Price Gouging

October 18, 2024 Fran Quigley, Waging Nonviolence. Organize! Big Pharma, Diabetes, Health Care, Insulin, Victory

T1International was born out of anger. Elizabeth Pfiester had lived with type 1 diabetes since she was four years old. The daughter of a Monticello, Illinois railroad worker and library clerk, Pfiester and her family together had to learn the daily regimen of insulin injections, finger pricks for blood testing, and constant fear of blood sugar spikes and crashes. Fortunately, her dad’s railroad job provided solid health coverage, which got even better when Pfiester enrolled in the London School of Economics, where she qualified for the U.K.’s National Health Service program.

The Breakthrough Insulin Device Developed By Commoners

November 10, 2023 David Bollier. Create! Health Care, Insulin, Self-sufficiency, The Commons

I've seen a lot of commons over the years, but I was amazed to learn about the #WeAreNot Waiting movement and its open-source automated insulin delivery (OS-AID) device for people with diabetes. This global movement of thousands of techies and allies created itself, and its device, through commoning, outflanking a stodgy, risk-averse medical device industry. The homegrown OS-AID system consists of a continuous glucose monitoring sensor worn on one's body, an electronically connected insulin pump, and a smartphone app whose sophisticated algorithm automatically monitors glucose levels and delivers just the right amount of insulin needed, in near-real time.

Insulin Copay Caps Fall Short, Fuel Underground Exchanges

October 9, 2020 Markian Hawryluk, Kaiser Health News. Educate! COVID-19, health, Health Insurance, Insulin

Denver - D.j. Mattern had her Type 1 diabetes under control until COVID’s economic upheaval cost her husband his hotel maintenance job and their health coverage. The 42-year-old Denver woman suddenly faced insulin’s exorbitant list price — anywhere from $125 to $450 per vial — just as their household income shrank. She scrounged extra insulin from friends, and her doctor gave her a couple of samples. But as she rationed her supplies, her blood sugar rose so high her glucose monitor couldn’t even register a number. In June, she was hospitalized.

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