Wednesday Open Thread | This Is A Medical Crisis That Is Killing People

Posted on July 10, 2019 by rikyrah

 

This topic is personal to me. For the last six years of her life, I was the main caretaker for my mother, who was a type 2 diabetic. While what she ultimately died of had no relation to the diabetes, I am very much aware of the complexity of this chronic disease.

30.3 MILLION Americans have diabetes. Some diabetics are insulin -dependent. Their bodies do not produce enough insulin FOR THEM TO SURVIVE.

Let me say this again….

THEY NEED INSULIN INJECTIONS TO SURVIVE.

My mother was one of those diabetics.

I went to the pharmacy all the time to pick up her insulin and diabetic supplies.

It never occurred to me that this would ever happen.

When I first read about this a few months ago, I was stunned and outraged. You will never be able to convince me, that, with all the advances in medicine, that this should be happening in the United States of America.

Skyrocketing cost of insulin pushes Americans to buy drug in Canada

Jul 5, 2019 6:35 PM EDT

Sarah Varney 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/skyrocketing-cost-of-insulin-pushes-americans-to-buy-drug-in-canada

Insulin is a vital drug that some 7.4 million Americans must take daily to manage their diabetes. But its price nearly doubled from 2012 to 2016, leaving some patients with no choice but to turn to black-market drugs or traveling to Canada, where insulin can be 90 percent cheaper. Special correspondent Sarah Varney reports on the skyrocketing cost of insulin — and the trend’s deadly consequences.

Transcript:

  • Judy Woodruff:

But first: We return now to rising anger over the skyrocketing cost of insulin, a lifesaving drug for some 7.5 million Americans who have diabetes.

The Trump administration has vowed to rein in drug prices, but when it comes to insulin, the costs remain an enormous burden for some patients.

Special correspondent Sarah Varney joined a group of diabetics and parents who crossed the Midwest in order to buy insulin in London, Ontario, the birthplace of the drug.

Our story was produced in collaboration with Kaiser Health News.

  • Sarah Varney:

It’s early morning in downtown Minneapolis, and Quinn Nystrom is scrambling to arrange last-minute logistics for the trip to Canada.

  • Woman:

A little nervous out there.

  • Quinn Nystrom:

You and me both.

  • Sarah Varney:

The caravan has drawn the media’s eye to a vexing problem that threatens her life and other type 1 diabetics in the U.S., the exorbitant cost of insulin.

They will cross five states, picking up passengers along the way, all to buy insulin in Canada, where it costs 90 percent less.

  • Quinn Nystrom:

Does everybody have their passport? Is everybody holding their passport up?

  • Sarah Varney:

For Nystrom, this quest began years ago, when she was growing up in rural Baxter, Minnesota. She was diagnosed with type 1 at 13 and hated being different from other girls at school. But when her parents sent her to a camp for kids with diabetes, she learned she wasn’t alone.

  • Quinn Nystrom:

I didn’t get the choice to get diabetes, but I certainly had the choice of how I was going to react to getting diabetes.

  • Sarah Varney:

She had dreams of finding a cure for diabetes. But about five years ago, as she was starting her career in public relations, she realized the real crisis: the price of insulin.

  • Quinn Nystrom:

When I went to pick up that insulin, it started costing me $200 out of pocket, then $300 out of pocket. So I just started posting that on my social media, and started to get a lot of responses.

  • Sarah Varney:

So, Nystrom, once her senior class president and self-described rule-follower, took a different path. She now expedites transfers of black market insulin.

WHY would a medicine DOUBLE in price over the course of 4 years?

WHY would a medicine that MILLIONS need TO LIVE DOUBLE IN PRICE?

I don’t care what hasn’t been charged yet – I believe it’s COLLUSION between the companies.

And, no, I don’t believe medicine needed for a CHRONIC DISEASE, should DOUBLE IN PRICE.

There’s something crooked going on here. And, it has the lives of MILLIONS at stake.

People choosing between medicine and food. People RATIONINING, and seeing if they can skip doses – they can’t. Some are being forced to play Russian Roulette with their health, and I can’t see any other reason than GREED.

 

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106 Responses to Wednesday Open Thread | This Is A Medical Crisis That Is Killing People

  6. SouthernGirl2 says:
    July 10, 2019 at 4:29 pm

    I was talking to daughter on the phone and Carson said….hi granny! He heard my voice. This little baby is too much.

    Reply
  8. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 2:35 pm

    Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) Tweeted:
    Reporter points out to Alex Acosta that he hasn’t apologized to Epstein’s victims. In his response, Alex Acosta does not apologize to Epstein’s victims. https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1149033081103355907?s=17

    Reply
  9. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 2:31 pm

    Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) Tweeted:
    Why is Acosta making public comments discussing the specifics of victim’s communications with law enforcement while charges against Epstein are pending?

    He can potentially use Acosta’s statements against prosecutors in that case. https://t.co/q8Vq5TnyP6 https://twitter.com/renato_mariotti/status/1149035075100712960?s=17

    Reply
  11. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 2:23 pm

    Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) Tweeted:
    @joshtpm Here is the right message Acosta should have sent: “I disgraced myself and the whole concept of equal justice under the law. I created an opportunity for more victims preyed upon by this monster I helped. I broke the law in the process. I resign.” https://twitter.com/NormOrnstein/status/1149033648563392513?s=17

    Reply
  22. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 12:37 pm

    August J. Pollak (@AugustJPollak) Tweeted:
    Tom Steyer could literally afford to register millions of new voters for a fraction of the cost of a failed presidential campaign and he’d probably end up with schools named after him for it. It’s not just that he’s egotistical; it’s that his egotistical act isn’t even practical. https://twitter.com/AugustJPollak/status/1148590187502559232?s=17

    Reply
  23. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 12:36 pm

    He has been a deadbeat all across the country. Folks told DC to get their money upfront 😒😒

    https://twitter.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1148983432690774020

    Reply
  38. SouthernGirl2 says:
    July 10, 2019 at 10:15 am

    Way to insult Black men to get them on board, Zerlina

    https://twitter.com/TweetExpose/status/1148956941886152704

    Reply
  41. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 9:48 am

    Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) Tweeted:
    All morning I’ve been stuck on this one point:

    Who knows 4-5 child rapists personally? Like who is friends or even acquaintances with MULTIPLE serial child rapists?

    Trump is friends w/ a lot of people who commit rape for a person who has been credibly accused of multiple rapes https://twitter.com/ZerlinaMaxwell/status/1148965208339230720?s=17

    Reply
  42. SouthernGirl2 says:
    July 10, 2019 at 9:46 am

    McConnell has stacked the courts. We’re doomed. He really can stand in the middle of 5th avenue, kill someone and get away with it. He has taken the Constitution and wiped his behind with it while laughing.

    https://twitter.com/MikeScarcella/status/1148962386436657153

    Reply
  47. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 8:12 am

    That’s because they have always been frauds…and never been real Christians 😠😠😠

    They are the direct descendants of the muthaphuckas 😠 😠 who used the Bible to justify slavery and Jim Crow.

    So, them justifying putting children in cages and tearing them from their parents…no big deal😒😒😒

    https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1148940544200118272

    Reply
  48. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 8:08 am

    Ida Skibenes ❄️ (@ida_skibenes) Tweeted:
    There’s something utterly disgusting about republicans who bash @AOC for working as a bartender, but can’t even pretend to be outraged about the Secretary of Labor enabling a pedophile.

    I. Just. Can’t. https://twitter.com/ida_skibenes/status/1148683418491920384?s=17

    Reply
  50. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 7:59 am

    MASS MOBILIZATION JULY 12th
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    “Lights for Liberty: A Nationwide Vigil to End Human Detention Camps”

    Text: LIGHTS to 977-79 to find a location near you!

    Please share this far and wide. @Lights4Liberty #DontLookAway #EndTrumpsConcentrationCamps pic.twitter.com/kqRBe5rV2C

    — GayleinKC (@gayleasher1) July 10, 2019

    Reply
  54. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 7:32 am

    ((( Cajsa ))) (@Cajsa) Tweeted:
    A Republican is someone who thinks Monica Lewinsky was a naive child at 23. But Epstein’s victims were knowing, consenting sex workers at 16. https://twitter.com/Cajsa/status/1148682224687972352?s=17

    Reply
  60. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 6:44 am

    Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) Tweeted:
    I’m pretty horrified by this quote about Kamala from a Biden ally, “We went out and tried to, best we can — especially with a slick and slippery person — try to pin Kamala Harris down on her own record.”

    WTH? Slick? Slippery?🤦🏾‍♀️

    I call it prepared! https://t.co/AM0YhA64hg https://twitter.com/ZerlinaMaxwell/status/1148918574746087424?s=17

    Reply
  68. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 6:31 am

    😠😠😠

    Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) Tweeted:
    Given how oral arguments went today in the 5th circuit ACA case, every reporter within earshot of a Senate Republican tomorrow should ask what their plan is should the entire ACA be struck down and 20 million lose coverage. https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1148756480344150016?s=17

    Reply
  82. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 5:36 am

    Someone should buy it and donate it to the Blacksonian 🙏🙏

    https://twitter.com/BrentNYT/status/1148723691016151041

    Reply
  90. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 5:28 am

    FIFTY 👏THREE 👏 PAGE 👏 INDICTMENT 👏

    https://twitter.com/jkbjournalist/status/1148628285489913857

    Reply
  96. rikyrah says:
    July 10, 2019 at 4:04 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄

    Reply

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