Millions of Americans are diagnosed with chronic disease that requires regular management and treatment. One of the most prevalent of these conditions is diabetes, and to manage the disease requires a life-saving medication called insulin.
In Nevada alone, more than 280,000 people living with diabetes need insulin to survive and live healthy lives. But these Nevadans, like thousands more managing other health conditions, are stressed, struggling and must stop their daily diabetes care as a result of the price-gouging behavior of large, brand name drug companies.
In 1923, Charles Best and James Collip sold the rights to the patent on insulin for just $1 (and their colleague, Frederick Banting, refused even to put his name on the patent). They knew they had discovered a medication that would not only improve but save lives, and they did not want affordability concerns to limit the reach of their life-saving discovery.
Let’s compare this to what Big Pharma drugmakers have done in recent years with regards to insulin.
Brand name drug companies cornered the market on this medication and then repeatedly increased the price in unison — despite there having been minimal changes to the underlying compound or improvements in its efficacy. Big Pharma manufacturers — because they control the market and charge whatever they want — have been able to repeatedly increase the price of insulin and squeeze more profits out of those who need it to survive.
Big Pharma’s practices resulted in the price increasing by an unbelievable 700% in just 10 years between 1996 and 2006. By 2016, the average price of insulin hit a staggering $450 per month, leaving almost 1 in 4 patients struggling to afford their medication.
According to a recent report from the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, the three large drug companies that produce insulin, and control 99% of the market — Novo Nordisk, Sanofi and Eli Lilly — have worked “in lockstep” to increase prices on their drugs almost simultaneously, in a practice known as shadow-pricing. The practice ensures that patients taking different insulin products end up paying more around the same time, so none of them can switch to a cheaper alternative.
These are anti-competitive tactics that fill the pockets of Big Pharma and hurt consumers. And it’s not just diabetics who suffer.
Big Pharma has continued to price-gouge Americans who rely on prescription medication, even during a public health crisis. As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to rage, large drug companies increased prices on 822 brand name drugs in their portfolios in a single month to start 2021.
Nevada lawmakers have taken commendable, positive steps to address this crisis and hold Big Pharma accountable. The state was among the first to pass landmark list price transparency measures requiring brand name drug companies to disclose and offer justification for price hikes above a certain threshold.
But to fundamentally address and reverse the crisis of prescription drug affordability, action is needed in Congress.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, the body with jurisdiction in Congress over many key drug pricing reforms and a place where real leadership can deliver results for Nevada patients.
In July 2019, Cortez Masto voted in favor of several critical drug pricing solutions. These included capping out-of-pocket costs to deliver immediate cost relief for patients, requiring big drug companies to keep price increases below the rate of inflation, and giving brand name drug companies more liability in the catastrophic phase of coverage under the Medicare Part D program, to help disincentivize rampant price hikes.
However, almost two years later, these solutions have still not become law.
Now, her party is in control of the Senate, and we need her to once again use her voice and her position on the Finance Committee to push leadership to deliver on the commitments made to American patients to lower drug prices and hold Big Pharma accountable.
Nevadans, especially those with chronic conditions like diabetes and who have to contend with Big Pharma’s out-of-control drug prices, will be watching. We are counting on promises that have been offered to be landed as promises delivered.
Sarah Gleich is executive director of the Nevada Diabetes Association and California Diabetes Association.