Lilly's insulin stunt

If you don't hate the classe politique, why don't you?

Oh, and one of Bozo's most fetching campaign lies was his promise to beat up Big Pharma to bring American prices into line with prices elsewhere.

Why the hell don't we?

Big Pharma knows how to spread the wealth.

Why Should Americans Be Grateful for $138 Insulin? Germans Get It for $55

This month, Eli Lilly and Company announced with some fanfare that it was manufacturing a generic version of its own best-selling insulin brand, Humalog, which it would sell for half off — $137.50 versus $275.

David Ricks, the chief executive of Lilly, said the company was making this seemingly beneficent gesture because “many patients are struggling to afford their insulin.”

But they’re struggling, in large part, because Lilly has raised the price of Humalog from $35 to $275 a vial since 2001. 

Other insulin makers have raised prices similarly.

In Germany, the list price of a vial of Humalog is about $55 — or $45 if you buy five at a time — and that includes some taxes and markup fees. 

Why not just reduce the price in the United States to address said suffering?

. . . .

Over the last 20 years, drug makers have continuously raised the price of some essential medicines in the United States because, well, they can in a country that doesn’t set drug prices. 

Why the hell don't we?

And they do — until the bad publicity catches up with them.

Mylan got hauled before Congress in 2016 for raising the price of an EpiPen. 

Now it’s insulin’s turn. 

The other two major brand makers of insulin products — Novo Nordisk and Sanofi — have raised prices in lock step with Lilly. 

But they are based in Europe, so the Indiana-based Lilly has been the primary focus of angry protests here.