California To Produce Insulin

[Cheerful Charlie]

California's governor Newsom has justannounced a $100 million dollar project to produce low cost insulin for California's diabetics. The high costs of insulin represent a failure of big pharma. Hopefully this will become a model of how a competent government can operate to solve issues when out of control capitalism will not.

Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will produce insulin - UPI.com

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that the state will begin producing its own insulin in an effort to reduce the cost of the life-saving medication.

www.upi.com

 

[TV and credit cards]

Great if they can actually bring it to fruition.

 

[thebeave]

California's governor Newsom has justannounced a $100 million dollar project to produce low cost insulin for California's diabetics. The high costs of insulin represent a failure of big pharma. Hopefully this will become a model of how a competent government can operate to solve issues when out of control capitalism will not.

Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will produce insulin - UPI.com

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that the state will begin producing its own insulin in an effort to reduce the cost of the life-saving medication.

www.upi.com

I wouldn't count on it. California in recent years doesn't have a good record when it comes to planning, budgeting and following through on big ticket items. Go read about our "high speed train" that was supposed to get people from SoCal to NoCal in less than 3 hours.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

While producing insulin isn't a simple task, comparing it with building a high-speed rail line from scratch is ridiculous.

 

[bilby]

Every other OECD country has insulin available at less than 20% of what it costs in the USA.

Building a railway should be rather harder than simply not paying five times as much for something as everyone else already pays.

Indeed, some would say that only fucking idiots would pay five times over the odds for anything.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Every other OECD country has insulin available at less than 20% of what it costs in the USA.

Building a railway should be rather harder than simply not paying five times as much for something as everyone else already pays.

Indeed, some would say that only fucking idiots would pay five times over the odds for anything.

Yeah, but California hasn't developed cold fusion, so they are idiots!

 

[RVonse]

California's governor Newsom has justannounced a $100 million dollar project to produce low cost insulin for California's diabetics. The high costs of insulin represent a failure of big pharma. Hopefully this will become a model of how a competent government can operate to solve issues when out of control capitalism will not.

Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will produce insulin - UPI.com

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that the state will begin producing its own insulin in an effort to reduce the cost of the life-saving medication.

www.upi.com

Amen to this, I hope this comes true and I hope it works.

The Republicans never fail to damn themselves by being against health care for all. What the US has is Big Pharma medicine. The medical system is run for the sake of Big Pharma profits. Private medicine hardly exists in the US anyway.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

It would be interesting to see a list of other brutally overpriced drugs that could likewise be produced by state run plants to keep needed drug prices sane.

 

[Politesse]

Seromycin, Daraprim, Zolgensma, there are a lot of examples. I'd rather they go after gougers legally, but if that isn't possible, there is some poetic justice in letting the sainted Market take down exploiters.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

While producing insulin isn't a simple task, comparing it with building a high-speed rail line from scratch is ridiculous.

Of the $100 billion budgeted for this plan, $50 billion is for the insulin plant itself. Say $10 billion a year over 10 years. How many vials per year, I do not know. 60 million Californians, 10% diabetic (national average) 6 millions. For me, 7 vials is 90 days supply. 28 vials a year. About 168 million vials a year. About $6 a vial. Once the basic plant is paid off, $3 per vial. Not including operating cost. Shipping, handling, other ancillery costs. Yes, it can be done. If $10 per vial, $280 per year rather $500 per month. This is how good government works.

 

[Derec]

a competent government

I don't get it. Is another government trying to do the same thing as California?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

And how does he plan to do this?!

There is pretty low-cost off-patent insulin available now. What's pricey is the newer on-patent versions that work better.

 

[Bomb#20]

California's governor Newsom has justannounced a $100 million dollar project to produce low cost insulin for California's diabetics. The high costs of insulin represent a failure of big pharma. Hopefully this will become a model of how a competent government can operate to solve issues when out of control capitalism will not.

Every other OECD country has insulin available at less than 20% of what it costs in the USA.

Building a railway should be rather harder than simply not paying five times as much for something as everyone else already pays.

Simply not paying five times as much for something as everyone else already pays is what out-of-control capitalism does. It is out-of-control capitalism's bleedin' speciality! If we had out-of-control capitalism in the pharma market then every big pharma and little pharma and entrepreneurial wannabe pharma in America would be buying that 20%-priced insulin in every other OECD country and importing it to sell on the U.S. market for a tidy profit at a competitive price a little over what they paid for it. The huge prices are happening because the government prohibits competition from a thousand entrepreneurs itching to practice a little out-of-control capitalism.

While producing insulin isn't a simple task, comparing it with building a high-speed rail line from scratch is ridiculous.

While producing insulin isn't a simple task, comparing out-of-control capitalism with the way our country makes insulin available to its people is ridiculous. But it is a law of human psychology that whenever the supply of a good or service is controlled 97% by government dictate and controlled 3% by private citizens' choices, every deleterious consequence of that power arrangement will induce anticapitalists of all stripes to scream bloody murder about the remaining 3%.

 

[Bomb#20]

While producing insulin isn't a simple task, comparing it with building a high-speed rail line from scratch is ridiculous.

Of the $100 billion budgeted for this plan, $50 billion is for the insulin plant itself. Say $10 billion a year over 10 years. How many vials per year, I do not know. 60 million Californians, 10% diabetic (national average) 6 millions. For me, 7 vials is 90 days supply. 28 vials a year. About 168 million vials a year. About $6 a vial. Once the basic plant is paid off, $3 per vial. Not including operating cost. Shipping, handling, other ancillery costs. Yes, it can be done. If $10 per vial, $280 per year rather $500 per month. This is how good government works.

You appear to have moved some decimal points around in your calculations.

California's governor Newsom has justannounced a $100 million dollar project to produce low cost insulin for California's diabetics.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

And how does he plan to do this?!

There is pretty low-cost off-patent insulin available now. What's pricey is the newer on-patent versions that work better.

There are insulins that are time released like Novilin- N. And insulins that act immediately like Novilog. There are oral drugs that have rather long lists of dire side effects such as kidney failure. I already have some kidney damage and utterly refuse to try such new and supposedly better diabetic drugs. These new drugs are not safe. Old fashioned insulins are effective without the risks of these potentially fatal concoctions from Big Pharma.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

And how does he plan to do this?!

There is pretty low-cost off-patent insulin available now. What's pricey is the newer on-patent versions that work better.

There are insulins that are time released like Novilin- N. And insulins that act immediately like Novilog. There are oral drugs that have rather long lists of dire side effects such as kidney failure. I already have some kidney damage and utterly refuse to try such new and supposedly better diabetic drugs. These new drugs are not safe. Old fashioned insulins are effective without the risks of these potentially fatal concoctions from Big Pharma.

Old fashioned off-patent insulin doesn't have the high price tags in the first place.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

For those of us on Medicare who get Part D, insulincn be reasonable. I paid $114 for a 90 day supply last time I ordered. But otherwise it most certainly is not cheap. The U.S. congress finally is acting to cap insulin costs to $35 per vial. This bill passed the house with most Repuglicans voting no. This bill still has to pass in the Senate. At Walmart, Novilog is $72 for 10ml. Usual list price is$289. In sane OECD nations it is from $6 to $13. Last time I ordered Novilog, it cost me $75 for 5 pens.

Obviosly, most of our GOP congress clowns don't care.