3/2/23

 Thursday, March 2, 2023

In bed at 9, awake at 2:30, up at 3:18, unable to sleep.  33℉, high of 37 forecast, 13 mph NNW wind, winds up to 13 mph today, gusts up to 24 mph, current wind chill is 24℉, ranging between 19 and 30 ℉ today.  Sunrise at 6:26, sunset at 5:42, 11+15.

Eli Lilly to cut insulin prices by 70 percent: The price of the medication has become a political issue as diabetics have struggled to afford the lifesaving drug  I wonder how we are expected to react to this 'good news' "after years of growing public outrage about the high cost of diabetes care," as reported in this morning's WaPo. "About 7 million Americans take insulin shots daily, and Eli Lilly is one of the three main producers of insulin in the United States. TThe cost of medical care for diabetes — which runs an average of $9,601 a year for people diagnosed with it, according to the American Diabetes Association — has become a political issue as low- and middle-income Americans have struggled to afford it."  

"The company’s nonbranded insulin, Insulin Lispro Injection, will drop from $82.41 to $25 per vial, making it the lowest-priced mealtime insulin available, according to the company. Humalog, its most commonly prescribed insulin, will drop 70 percent from its price of $530.40 for a five-pack of insulin pens to roughly $160. Lilly is also launching a new insulin product it calls Rezvoglar, which it says is interchangeable with medication by competitor Sanofi but costs 78 percent less."  "About 37 million Americans live with diabetes, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though some use other methods to control their blood sugar."

"A Yale University study published in July 2022 found that 14 percent of those insulin users are spending at least 40 percent of their income after food and housing costs on the medicine. A 2021 study found rationing behaviors to be common among a sample of 982 people with diabetes, with 16.5 percent reporting that they often skipped doses, took less insulin than required, or delayed purchases to save money."

How can anyone, other than major shareholders of Eli Lilly, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk, the 'big 3 insulin producers, feel anything other than disgust with the American Capitalism dimensions of this story?  Eli Lilly is also the manufacturer of Trulicity, the diabestes medication I have injected once a week for many years, cost: $989.72 for 4 pen injectors, injected one per week.

Our Canary in the Mineshaft.   This morning's WaPo: Israeli police violently crack down on[Israelis'] protest over judicial overhaul.  Police lobbed hundreds of stun grenades, fired water cannons and arrested at least 40 people in response to Wednesday’s “Day of Disruption,” in which flag-waving Israelis flooded the streets and blocked major thoroughfares in dozens of places across the country.  . . . . . The scenes of officers wrestling peaceful protesters to the ground came as police faced mounting criticism for not doing more to hold Israeli settlers accountable for a violent weekend rampage in the West Bank.  At one point, protesters in Tel Aviv chanted, “Where were you in Huwara?” — the Palestinian town where, after a Palestinian shot and killed two Israeli brothers, hundreds of Israeli settlers attacked civilians at random, burning cars, businesses and homes, many with children inside. One Palestinian man was killed by a settler who shot him in the abdomen, the man’s family said.  “The right to protest is not the right to commit anarchy,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said about the use of force by police in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, after days of refusing to condemn the settlers’ attacks against Palestinians. . . . But many worry that violence by settlers will continue as long as they receive support — implicit or explicit — from the current government. Two of its most senior ministers, Bezalel Smotrich and Ben Gvir, responded to the killing of the Israeli brothers with promises of revenge. Smotrich called for the Israeli military to “strike at the Palestinian cities with tanks and helicopters, mercilessly, in a way that will send the message that the landlord has gone mad.”

“Our new politics now includes people with messianic visions, in very high positions, who believe Armageddon-style chaos is something that could potentially lead to a better future,” said Yotam Margalit, a professor at Tel Aviv University’s school of political science. “And Netanyahu, who was always careful with the use of force, is now dependent on those people.”