CLEVELAND — Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company, announced it is cutting down the price of some of its popular insulin and cap insulin price at $35 for people without insurance.
Dr. Brian Burtch, an endocrinologist at University Hospitals, said 37 million people in the United States have diabetes and about 7 million of those need insulin. If they cannot afford it, it could be life or death.
“So imagine if you or I had Type 1 diabetes. You need to get insulin every day,” he said. “If you were out of your insulin for a day or two, you could potentially be critically ill and have to be hospitalized. It’s an impossible decision.”
Dr. Burtch is excited about Eli Lilly’s announcement and what it means for the diabetes community.
“This is a huge win. It’s been a long time coming, there’s been a lot of advocacy for this and it’s definitely a step in the right direction,” he said.
He explained that people with diabetes typically have more to pay for than just insulin.
“So when you look at a patient that has diabetes, it’s not just simply one shot a day,” he said. “They’re often at blood pressure medicines, cholesterol medicines. You know, even with cheap generic products, this adds up.”
Dr. Burtch said the eventual goal is for insulin to be free.
“The hope is that it becomes more companies see Eli Lilly taking the lead here with lowering these prices, that the other ones follow suit,” he said.
