Normoglycemia = Basic Human Right
What is the cost of insulin? For some people, the cost is their limbs, kidneys, vision, or even their lives.
If one cannot afford their food or living expenses, one cannot afford $300 vials of insulin.
Insulin is a pancreatic hormone that helps skeletal muscles use sugar and also regulates the body's use of protein, carbs and fat for energy. High levels of sugar in the blood stream as a result of lack of insulin or decreased sensitivity to insulin leads to many complications. Damaged blood vessels can lead to stroke, heart attack, and amputations. Sensory issues such as nerve damage/neuropathy and blindness can occur from impaired circulation. Organs, such as the kidneys or the brain, can also suffer damage due to decreased blood flow.
Call me naive, but I think normoglycemia, having blood sugar levels within normal range, should be a basic human right, not a privilege that comes with good health insurance.
Some people say, well, if these people ate healthier maybe they would not get diabetes. First of all, genetics has a lot to do with diabetes, as do cultural practice and socioeconomic status. Second, diet and lifestyle do not cause type I diabetes. The archetypical type I diabetic can be quite thin and frail, because their pancreases make no insulin and cannot properly use or regulate sugars. This is dangerous because extreme blood sugar levels can lead to a diabetic coma. Diabetic or not, we all need insulin (whether made by our bodies or synthetic) to stay alive. Staying alive is a basic human right, no?
The worst of it is that the "inventors" of insulin sold the patent for $1 because they believed that it should be free. What happened? Big pharmaceutical companies tweaked the formula slightly, continuously, to "evergreen" new patents so they could charge top dollar for tiny vials or injector pens of the life-saving synthetic hormone.
According to modernhealthcare.com, "The average cost of a prescription has risen from $405 in 2013 to $666 in 2016" (Johnson). Do we need further proof that the devil (or Lucifer Morningstar, if you're a fan) had a hand in this?
Until gross healthcare inequalities are remedied, people with an emergent need for insulin may go to local emergency rooms to have immediately life-threatening complications addressed. Some Walmarts sell lower-cost regular and intermediate-acting insulin without a prescription. Those who qualify for the Reduced Rx program can get better prices on insulin, and some community health centers such as Golden Valley may also help clients gain access to more affordable insulin.
In the face of patients with repeat amputations and dangerous complications due to "noncompliance" with blood sugar checks and insulin injections, we must consider that some simply cannot afford medication compliance, because the system has made compliance more costly (in the immediate sense) than life or limb.
However, in the end, amputations, infections and diabetic emergencies cost the system (not to mention the patient) far more than insulin would have, so it makes financial sense for those with diabetes to have better access to the meds they need in the first place.
The United Nation's declaration of basic human rights includes "3. The Right to Life," which arguably could include 3c. normoglycemia. It's all a work in progress.
If one cannot afford their food or living expenses, one cannot afford $300 vials of insulin.
Insulin is a pancreatic hormone that helps skeletal muscles use sugar and also regulates the body's use of protein, carbs and fat for energy. High levels of sugar in the blood stream as a result of lack of insulin or decreased sensitivity to insulin leads to many complications. Damaged blood vessels can lead to stroke, heart attack, and amputations. Sensory issues such as nerve damage/neuropathy and blindness can occur from impaired circulation. Organs, such as the kidneys or the brain, can also suffer damage due to decreased blood flow.
Call me naive, but I think normoglycemia, having blood sugar levels within normal range, should be a basic human right, not a privilege that comes with good health insurance.
Some people say, well, if these people ate healthier maybe they would not get diabetes. First of all, genetics has a lot to do with diabetes, as do cultural practice and socioeconomic status. Second, diet and lifestyle do not cause type I diabetes. The archetypical type I diabetic can be quite thin and frail, because their pancreases make no insulin and cannot properly use or regulate sugars. This is dangerous because extreme blood sugar levels can lead to a diabetic coma. Diabetic or not, we all need insulin (whether made by our bodies or synthetic) to stay alive. Staying alive is a basic human right, no?
The worst of it is that the "inventors" of insulin sold the patent for $1 because they believed that it should be free. What happened? Big pharmaceutical companies tweaked the formula slightly, continuously, to "evergreen" new patents so they could charge top dollar for tiny vials or injector pens of the life-saving synthetic hormone.
According to modernhealthcare.com, "The average cost of a prescription has risen from $405 in 2013 to $666 in 2016" (Johnson). Do we need further proof that the devil (or Lucifer Morningstar, if you're a fan) had a hand in this?
Until gross healthcare inequalities are remedied, people with an emergent need for insulin may go to local emergency rooms to have immediately life-threatening complications addressed. Some Walmarts sell lower-cost regular and intermediate-acting insulin without a prescription. Those who qualify for the Reduced Rx program can get better prices on insulin, and some community health centers such as Golden Valley may also help clients gain access to more affordable insulin.
In the face of patients with repeat amputations and dangerous complications due to "noncompliance" with blood sugar checks and insulin injections, we must consider that some simply cannot afford medication compliance, because the system has made compliance more costly (in the immediate sense) than life or limb.
However, in the end, amputations, infections and diabetic emergencies cost the system (not to mention the patient) far more than insulin would have, so it makes financial sense for those with diabetes to have better access to the meds they need in the first place.
The United Nation's declaration of basic human rights includes "3. The Right to Life," which arguably could include 3c. normoglycemia. It's all a work in progress.
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