Even though injectable vials of insulin have been around for nearly a century, and synthetic insulin for almost 40 years, there is no generic form of the vital diabetes medication. In recent years, the price of insulin has risen sharply, leaving healthcare providers with concerns about patients who can’t afford insulin skipping doses and risking lost limbs and eyesight. Pharma giant Eli Lilly — maker of popular insulin brands Humalog, Humulin, and Basaglar — is now proposing a solution that it believes could make the medication more affordable — but only for some people. [More]
express scripts
Express Scripts To Offer $1 Version Of Drug That Skyrocketed To $750/Pill Overnight
By 12.1.15
Earlier this year, a company called Turing Pharmaceuticals purchased the rights to Daraprim (pyrimethamine), an anti-parasitic used to treat malaria and toxoplasmosis, that had sold for as little as $1/tablet until not too long ago. Overnight, the price of Daraprim skyrocketed to around $750/pill, resulting in angry doctors, and a Senate investigation. Today, pharmacy benefits giant Express Scripts announced a partnership that will introduce a version of pyrimethamine at the pre-Turing price. [More]
Why Is Express Scripts Making Me Buy A New Blood Glucose Meter?
By 1.23.14
As diabetics, people with diabetic loved ones, and anyone who has seen a TV commercial starring Wilford Brimley all know, keeping track of one’s blood glucose levels is an important part of staying healthy with diabetes. But what happens when you suddenly can’t get the supplies that you need for the brand of meter that you’ve chosen because your health insurer will only cover one brand of meter? [More]
Express Scripts Decides Cancer Patient’s Drug Isn’t Approved Yet, Shrugs
By 7.9.13
Health insurance is supposed to make your life less stressful, not more. It’s supposed to help you treat illnesses, not keep you away from legitimate treatments. Yet mail-order pharmacy kept a life-extending treatment away from a terminal cancer patient, causing her extra stress and costing her time spent on the phone and not receiving treatment. [More]
Silly Me, Expecting My Mail-Order Pharmacy To Pay Attention To My Meds
By 5.20.13
Don’t expect your mail-order pharmacy to look out for you or for your health. That’s what reader Kathleen learned when her auto-refill prescription got auto-refilled, in spite of her new and exciting prescription for the same medication in a higher dose. Isn’t the point to having everything run by benevolent computers that they’re smarter than we are, and don’t make silly human errors? [More]
