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The EpiPen Wasn't Alone: Price Gouging on Insulin Draws Outrage
Type 1 diabetic Tamara Khachatoorian, 26, injects herself with insulin at the J.W.C.H. safety-net clinic in the center of skid row in downtown Los Angeles, July 30, 2007. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

[DIGEST: Business Insider, RT]

Diabetes affects more than 29.1 million Americans nationwide, but only three companies make insulin worldwide. Steep price hikes in recent decades have prompted accusations of price gouging. According to Dr. Mayer Davidson, a professor of medicine at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles who has monitored insulin costs, the price of insulin now "borders on the unbelievable." Dr. Davidson noted that in 2001, the wholesale price of a monthly supply of highly concentrated insulin was $45. That same amount now costs $1,447. These observations mirror the results of a study conducted by the Journal of the American Medical Association, which found that "the mean price of insulin increased from $4.34/mL in 2002 to $12.92/mL in 2013—a 200% increase.

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