
Woman says her son couldn't afford his insulin – now he's dead - methodover
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mother-fights-for-lower-insulin-prices-after-sons-tragic-death/
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1123581321
This sounds like an issue with medical/financial literacy or possibly mental
illness, which are also serious. The self-pay price is discounted and can get
really low with the manufacturer coupons/rebates or the one pharmacy chains
scan for you if you’re uninsured. Generics are available; they are not as
error-proof as, e.g., Tresiba, but they would have saved his life. Switching
from pens to vials saves money.

Please be kind if you reply; I am diabetic and have spent time trying to save
money on a really high prescription copay. I’ve caught myself doing what this
person did, rationing or going without when there were ways to get medicine.
Thankfully I didn’t live alone and someone snapped me out of that thinking. I
would like to see the FDA stop the stair-step method to keep generics from
being widely prescribed but if you’re waiting for that, please don’t — there
are temporary solutions in the meantime.

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helsinki
I had this problem during six months of self-employment. I found that the
cheapest way to get good insulin (Novolog) is to fly to Bangkok / Chiang Mai
and hit up all the pharmacies until you have a year's supply. If you're not
unlucky, you shouldn't have a problem at the airports.

I think it cost ~$25-35 USD for several pen cartridges of Novolog.

~~~
ahodges22
You don't even need to go that far for cheap insulin. I'm a type 1 diabetic in
Seattle, and I've gone to Canada a few times for ~$25-$30/vial USD of Humalog
(Novolog is also available) insulin. It's over the counter there, and I've
never had an issue with US customs bringing up to a year supply back home.

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marpstar
Clicked on the link thinking it'd be the article about my cousin who went
through the _exact_ same thing about a year ago.

[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6415921/Mother-
says...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6415921/Mother-says-
diabetic-son-32-died-rationing-insulin-afford-supplies.html)

RIP Jesse.

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NicoJuicy
Practically free in Belgium, I really think Europe is 3 steps ahead in
healthcare

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fefb
Even in Brazil, a third world country, you can get insulin for Free.

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methodover
This story is absolutely heartbreaking. This young man died alone, trying to
ration his $1300/mo insulin.

Does anyone know if there are startups trying to tackle this specific problem?
I would be curious about learning more about them. I don't understand why a
company doesn't just come in and massively undercut the competition.

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JohnFen
It's also not as rare as it should be. In my area recently, a man died because
he couldn't afford the oxygen supply he required.

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t0nyandre
That's just so sad. These medicines should be more available for people. We're
living in yr 2019; shouldn't be this way!

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heyjudy
Uncontrolled type-2 diabetes is no joke. I had a Danish neighbor growing up
who worked for Spectra-Physics and had an RX-7 (Wankel) back in the day. After
he retired, he got diabetes but didn't take insulin with uncontrolled blood
sugar over 400-700 mg/dL. He lost his vision, feet and went from mildly
unhealthy to dead under in two years. He was never obese that I recall.

If someone were broke as in the story, but determined to get life-survival
medication no matter what in the US: get rid of all of their property and
assets except one vehicle and one house, and get Medicaid. If someone became
disabled from a non-work-related condition, there is Medicare SSDI... and they
may also qualify for Medicaid. The reason to get rid of property are two-fold:
there are maximum qualification limits and bankruptcy would take it. A
bankruptcy lawyer costs $2000-4000 FYI.

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masonic
Type 2 is non-insulin-dependent.

Metformin is an excellent drug for NIDDM and is ridiculously cheap even in the
USA (less than $3/month at Costco uninsured price).

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PopeDotNinja
Could someone in this situation steal insulin & claim self defense?

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masonic
When you drill down to the detail story (click the name link), you see that
Alex _chose to go without insurance altogether_ despite his state (MN) having
an ACA exchange with fully subsidized plans.

Neither mentions where he got his prescription from after being off the
parents plan, if he pursued one at all.

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jpindar
One thing worth trying if you are in this situation is to go to a university
or research hospital and volunteer as a research subject, if you can find
someone who is researching your particular problem. This worked for a friend
of mine who needed anti-psychotic medication when he was uninsured.

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3KQgt0Cl
In Greece is free. Even for uninsured people.

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diogenescynic
Blame republicans. This is all by their design. Every other country has
figured this out and the conservatives in those countries mostly support
universal healthcare. America needs to vote out republicans for a generation
and get America caught up to the rest of the developed world.

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oh_sigh
Just a little life pro-tip: Even if you view 'the other side' as horrible
murderers for profit, you should tone down your viewpoint when talking
publicly because you will not convince anyone of your viewpoint by saying
these people are horrible murderers for profit.

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tehduder9
reality stings

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oh_sigh
Sure, but my advice was only on how to better persuade people, not how to
better bash the truth into their skulls.

