Why US Insulin Costs 10 Times More Than France

The same vial of insulin costs $8 in France and $98 in America. Same drug, same company, different zip code. That's not opinion - that's RAND Corporation data tracking actual manufacturer prices across 33 developed countries.

Ten Times Higher Than Everyone Else

US insulin prices aren't just a little higher. They're nearly 10 times the OECD average. More than 10 times France and the UK. Seven times Germany. Six times Canada. This isn't a small markup we're talking about. It's a systematic pricing gap that exists nowhere else in the developed world. The drug is identical. The manufacturers are the same. The only variable is the country where it's sold. 37 million Americans have diabetes - almost 12% of the country. Some are rationing insulin. Some are dying because they can't afford it. Those aren't edge cases. That's the math when you price a life-saving drug at 10x what everyone else pays.

From $1 to $250

Insulin was discovered in 1921. The scientists who discovered it sold the patent for $1 because they wanted to save lives. That same vial cost $21 in 1996. Today it's over $250. Three companies now control 90% of the global insulin market. They set the price. Congress takes their donations. Nothing changes. The patent was sold for $1. The pill is now $250. Do the math on what happened in between.

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The numbers Congress won't talk about

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