美国国家公共电台 NPR--Insulin costs increased 600% over the last 20 years. States aim to curb the price

Insulin costs increased 600% over the last 20 years. States aim to curb¹ the price

Transcript²

Drug price reforms passed as part of the Inflation Reduction Act did not solve the problem of skyrocketing costs of insulin. States are taking their own action.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The price of gas has gone back down in recent weeks. The price of insulin remains⁴ very high. Leading manufacturers have increased prices by more than 600% over the last 20 years. Many diabetes⁵ patients ration⁶ this lifesaving drug. So who's helping⁷? NPR's Allison Aubrey is here to look at state and federal efforts.

Good morning.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE⁸: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: OK. First, the federal level. Congress recently passed the Inflation Reduction Act, as it was called. And it did include some prescription⁹ drug provisions. Does that help?

AUBREY: Yes. It will help Medicare patients. There will be a new cap on out-of-pocket costs for them. But among the other roughly 80% of Americans, there are many families struggling to afford insulin.

I spoke¹⁰ to Clayton McCook in Edmond, Okla. His 14-year-old daughter Lily has Type 1 diabetes. And due to their very high deductible health plan, they pay thousands of dollars out of pocket each year. He says he's very angry that pharmaceutical¹¹ companies can price a vial of insulin at about $300 when it only costs about $6 to make.

CLAYTON MCCOOK: I could go to Canada right now and get my daughter's insulin, the same exact drug, for 35 to $40 a vial because the Canadian government says this is it. This is the most you can charge. They're still making a profit at that price. They're still making a handsome profit. This is a very visceral thing for me. Without insulin, my daughter will die.

AUBREY: He says her financial future is threatened by these high prices, and his family is not alone. About 30 million people in the U.S. are diagnosed with diabetes. About a quarter require insulin. And McCook, who's now an advocate with the group Patients for Affordable¹² Drugs Now, says if there's not more action in Washington, D.C., to fix what he says is a broken system, he points to momentum¹³ at the state level.

INSKEEP: Well, let's talk about that. What are states doing?

AUBREY: Well, about 20 states have passed laws or programs to limit the amount patients pay for insulin. But I'd say the boldest initiative is in California, where they are looking to completely overhaul¹⁴ the system. Instead of buying insulin from the big pharmaceutical companies, such as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, they want to make their own insulin. Governor Gavin Newsom has said that nothing epitomizes market failures as much as the cost of insulin.

I spoke to Dr. Mark Ghaly. He's secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency.

MARK GHALY: The cost of actually creating the insulin that makes a difference in people's lives is not nearly as much as what people are paying for it. California is looking at, what approach can we take to make sure what people pay for it is as close to the actual cost of creating it as a possible? So we are looking for partners.

AUBREY: Earlier this summer, state lawmakers approved a hundred million dollars for the project - 50 million for a manufacturing facility and 50 million to bring so-called biosimilar insulin products to market. These are akin³ to generic¹⁵ versions of existing drugs.

INSKEEP: I would presume that pharmaceutical companies have charged so much for insulin because there is some difficulty in making it, and they have a product that is of limited supply. Can the state simply wade¹⁶ in and make a generic?

AUBREY: Well, not quite yet, but Californians are not the only ones thinking about this. Civica Rx is a nonprofit generic drug company that started back in 2018. They're already in the process of developing three biosimilar insulin products that they say will cost no more than $30 a vial. So Civica Rx could be a partner for California. I spoke to Civica's Allan Coukell.

ALLAN COUKELL: Our timeline is to bring the first of those three insulins to market in 2024. We're working with the FDA now as we move through the development process.

AUBREY: He says the agency would need to authorize¹⁷ these insulin products, and he's optimistic that this can happen.

COUKELL: One of the great things about Civica is that we're a mission-driven nonprofit. Our goal here is to reduce costs for patients.

AUBREY: And if all goes as planned, Steve, this could usher¹⁸ in much cheaper insulin for millions of Americans.

INSKEEP: Yeah, 30 bucks¹⁹ instead of 300 - that's a difference for a lot of people.

Allison, thanks.

AUBREY: Thank you, Steve.

INSKEEP: NPR's Allison Aubrey.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE PUTBACKS' "SNAKE EYES")

1 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

6 ration   

n.定量(pl.)给养，口粮；vt.定量供应

参考例句：

• The country cut the bread ration last year.那个国家去年削减面包配给量。
• We have to ration the water.我们必须限量用水。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

12 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

13 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

14 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

15 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

16 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

17 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

18 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

19 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》