How is Insulin not a generic?
I read a while back that, for years the patents on drugs would run out and then a generic could be made and there was nothing the drug companies could do about it.
Then, they discovered some type of “licensing loophole” that basically allowed them to enforce the patent for years, before anyone could make and market the generic.
And then there’s always the heavy hand of Soetero’s government not approving labs to make the generics.
Oklahoma Doctors vs. Obamacare ...... these guys have a pretty good take on how screwed up things are .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uPdkhMVdMQ&t=88s
Complex question.
A lot of the delivery methods for insulin are still under patents. Also insulin has been declared a biologic drug by the almighty FDA so with that, has a ton of regulations associated with the manufacturing process.
Generic forms of insulin is easier said than done since the cost to get a form of insulin to the market could exceed maybe quarter billion or half-a-billion (With this current grifting Executive Branch).
At Walmarts in Ohio it is.
I can buy Novolin R over the counter for $25.00 per vial. And do. That price hasn't changed in the three or four years since I started buying it to supplement what my Medicare plan provider supplies according to my doctor's prescription. (They won't give me enough to let me build up a reserve for emergencies.)
Novolin R is slightly slower acting than the prescription Novolog, but I don't have much trouble adjusting my dosage to it. (I don't guess and pray. I do blood tests as often as eight times a day to maintain control.)
Walmart's pricing tells me that this "volatility" reporting is BS. Or Walmart is subsidizing it heavily. Either way, Walmart is doing us diabetic seniors on fixed incomes a life-saving service.
To add to Rollo's post. There is no one size fits all for different people. My son was diagnosed as a type I diabetic at age fourteen. By the time he graduated from high school he had tried three different types of insulin. They started with the cheapest and moved up. I have no idea what type he is on now. He was telling me the one he is now using requires about 80% of what his last one required and it keeps his blood sugar level much more even.