Alarming figure: More than a million in US rationing insulin due to high cost

A recent study based on a national survey found that more than 1.3 million American adults with diabetes did not take their doses of insulin due to delays in buying amid the escalating cost of this life-saving medication.

The Guardian reported that some insulin rights activists, and those who have diabetes, raised their voices to handle the serious issue of the high costs of insulin in the United States.

Insulin, the main anabolic hormone of the body, is produced in the pancreas by special cells, called beta cells. In terms of medication, it is used in any pharmaceutical preparation of the protein hormone insulin that is used to treat high blood glucose.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The study published last month on October 18 in the Annals of Internal Medicine estimated that about 16.5 per cent of adults with diabetes, who are dependent on insulin, did not take full doses as prescribed. It happened because of the issues related to the affordability of the drug.

WATCH |Gravitas: Should you retire early?

The study has been led by researchers at Harvard Medical School, City University of New York’s Hunter College, and the nonprofit consumer advocacy organisation Public Citizen.

The survey-based study also provides an alarming figure that tells the number of Americans who struggle to afford a drug they can't live without.

In the US, official data shows that diabetes is currently the seventh-leading cause of death. But another study published in 2017 suggests the occurrence of deaths due to diabetes is much higher but it is frequently being overlooked in causes of death.

As quoted by the Guardian report,Angela Lautner of Kentucky who lived with type 1 diabetes for 22 years, said: "I've been on Eli Lilly’s Humalog insulin since 2000, nothing has changed in that vial, not how I use it, nothing has changed except for the price."

"The instant, the very instant, that I can't afford insulin, death is literally staring me in the face and I would die within 24 hours or be in the emergency room on my way out without insulin, every single human would,"Lautner added.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.