Insulin has been around a long time - patents on many versions are long-expired, so there should be many generic versions available at something fairly close to cost. Newer, improved versions are still patent-protected and expensive, but I don’t see how people can’t afford some reasonably functional medication. (Unless the government has banned them.)
“...so there should be many generic versions available at something fairly close to cost.”
Cost is a small issue when requiring insulin, being effective is.
Biologic drugs like insulin are usually nearly impossible to recreate. Instead, manufacturers often create close copies of biologic drugs, referred to as “follow-ons” or “biosimilars.” Biosimilars tend to be more expensive than generics (though still less expensive than brands) and aren’t identical to the chemical structure of the brand counterpart. So the effectiveness of the product is different. And different can mean the life or death with insulin. I use a long term and short term inject ables along with oral meds.
Another issue with drugs is drug interaction. The long term insulin I use cannot be mixed with thiazolidinediones (TZDs), insulin sensitizers, among othjer drugs, as TZD mixtures can cause heart failure. So that comes into effect depending on which insulin is being replaced as a doctor will use other drug consistent with the insulin being prescribed, or vice versa. And if there are other illness that must be treated, it becomes a major issue.
So it’s a lot more than just replacing a drug with a generic based upon cost. It has to do with the overall treatment of the patient. And that can get really complex…and very expensive. And very dangerous as treating diabetes is not an exact science.
Wy69