Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T19:47:02.123Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - The Alleged Insulin Conspiracy

from Part II - Seller Cartels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2022

Roger D. Blair
Affiliation:
University of Florida
Christine Piette Durrance
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin
Tirza J. Angerhofer
Affiliation:
Duke University, North Carolina
Get access

Summary

In the United States, more than 10 percent of the population suffers from diabetes. For many, insulin stands between them and decidedly ill health or death. This makes the demand for insulin extremely inelastic. For many low-income diabetics, the cost of insulin accounts for a large fraction of their disposable income, which makes it difficult to pay rent, maintain a healthy diet, and provide for the needs of children and aging parents. As a result, it is important to preserve and promote competition in the insulin market. But the price of insulin continues to rise, indicating that insulin markets may not be competitive. We review two possible explanations. First, there have been allegations that pharmacy benefit managers, whose primary role is to negotiate lower pharmaceutical prices, may be encouraging higher insulin prices to increase rebates and their profits. Second, there have been allegations that the three major producers of insulin – Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi – have been cooperating rather than competing. This chapter addresses these allegations and the antitrust response.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ayres, Ian. (1987). How Cartels Punish: A Structural Theory of Self-Enforcing Collusion. Columbia Law Review 87: 295325.Google Scholar
Balto, David. (2017). Federal and State Litigation Regarding Pharmacy Benefit Managers. PBM Watch. www.pbmwatch.com/pbm-litigation-overview.html.Google Scholar
Bergin, Jessica M. (2019). A Primer on Pharmacy Benefit Managers. Antitrust Health Care Chronicle 33: 715.Google Scholar
Campbell, Todd. (2020). CVS Announces Plan to Eliminate Co-Pays for Diabetes Drugs. Fool. www.fool.com/investing/2020/01/29/cvs-announces-plan-to-eliminate-diabetes-co-pays.aspx.Google Scholar
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). National Diabetes Statistics Report: Estimates of Diabetes and Its Burden in the United States. www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pdfs/data/statistics/national-diabetes-statistics-report.pdf.Google Scholar
Chamberlin, Edward. (1933). The Theory of Monopolistic Competition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Cubanski, Juliette, Neuman, Tricia, True, Sarah, and Damico, Anthony. (2020). Insulin Costs and Coverage in Medicare Part D. Kaiser Family Foundation. www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/insulin-costs-and-coverage-in-medicare-part-d/.Google Scholar
Diabetesmuseum München. (2020). Insulin: 2020 – Thanks for 99 Years of Insulin. https://diabetesmuseum.de/insulin.Google Scholar
Envision Intelligence. (2018). Globally, Top 10 Insulin Manufacturers Are Dominated by Europe and North America. www.envisioninteligence.com/blog/globally-top-10-insulin-manufacturers/.Google Scholar
Fortune Business Insights. (2018). Human Insulin Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, by Type (Analogue Insulin, Traditional Human Insulin), by Diabetes Type (Type 1, Type 2), by Distribution Channel (Retail Pharmacy, Hospital Pharmacy, Online Pharmacy), and Regional Forecast, 2019–2026. www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/human-insulin-market-100395.Google Scholar
Hayes, Tara O’Neill, Barnhorst, Margaret, and Farmer, Josee. (2020). Federal and State Actions to Address Insulin Costs. American Action Forum. www.americanactionforum.org/insight/federal-and-state-actions-to-address-insulin-costs/.Google Scholar
Hua, Xinyang, Carvalho, Natalie, Tew, Michelle, Huang, Elbert S., Herman, William H., and Clarke, Philip. (2016). Expenditures and Prices of Antihyperglycemic Medications in the United States: 2002–2013. Journal of the American Medical Association 315: 14001402.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leonard, Mike. (2021). EpiPen Gouging Suit Advances against Mylan, CVS, Express Scripts. Bloomberg Law. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/antitrust/epipen-gouging-suit-advances-against-mylan-cvs-express-scripts.Google Scholar
Mylan N.V. (2020). Mylan and Biocon Announce US FDA Approval of Semglee. Cision PR Newswire. www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mylan-and-biocon-announce-us-fda-approval-of-semglee-insulin-glargine-injection-301074847.html.Google Scholar
Pepall, Lynne, Richards, Dan, and Norman, George. (2014). Industrial Organization: Contemporary Theory and Empirical Applications. 5th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, Louis. (2002). Insulin: Discovery and Controversy. Clinical Chemistry 48: 22702288.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rowley, William R., Bezold, Clement, Arikan, Yasemin, Byrne, Erin, and Krohe, Shannon. (2017). Diabetes 2030: Insights from Yesterday, Today, and Future Trends. Population Health Management 20: 612.Google Scholar
Seeley, Elizabeth, and Kesselheim, Aaron S.. (2019). Pharmacy Benefit Managers: Practices, Controversies, and What Lies Ahead. The Commonwealth Fund. www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2019/mar/pharmacy-benefit-managers-practices-controversies-what-lies-ahead.Google ScholarPubMed
Stark, S., and Wood, J.. (2020). Humalog Insulin: Investigating the Potential Implications of Insulin Price Hikes on Company Financial Data. https://insulin.substack.com/p/humalog-insulin-investigating-the?s=r.Google Scholar
Stigler, George J. (1964). A Theory of Oligopoly. Journal of Political Economy 72: 4461.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Thomas. (2021). Biden Administration Rescinds Trump Administration Insulin Pricing Rule. Policymed. www.policymed.com/2021/10/biden-administration-rescinds-trump-administration-insulin-pricing-rule.html.Google Scholar
Tribble, Sarah Jane. (2015). You Can Buy Insulin without a Prescription, but Should You? KHN. https://khn.org/news/you-can-buy-insulin-without-a-prescription-but-should-you/.Google Scholar
US Health and Human Services. (2019). Trump Administration Proposes to Lower Drug Costs by Targeting Backdoor Rebates and Encouraging Direct Discounts to Patients. www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/20190131-fact-sheet.pdf.Google Scholar
US Senate Finance Committee. (2021). Insulin: Examining the Factors Driving the Rising Cost of a Century Old Drug. www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Grassley-Wyden%20Insulin%20Report%20(FINAL%201).pdf.Google Scholar
US White House. (2020). Executive Order on Access to Affordable Life-Saving Medications. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-access-affordable-life-saving-medications/.Google Scholar
Vecchio, Ignazio, Tornali, Cristina, Bragazzi, Nicola Luigi, and Martini, Mariano. (2018). The Discovery of Insulin: An Important Milestone in the History of Medicine. Frontiers in Endocrinology. www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2018.00613/full.Google ScholarPubMed
Walker, Joseph. (2021). FDA Lets Pharmacies Substitute Branded Insulin with Knockoff Product, in First for a Biologic Drug. Wall Street Journal. www.wsj.com/articles/fda-lets-pharmacies-substitute-branded-insulin-with-knockoff-product-in-first-for-a-biologic-drug-11627589200.Google Scholar
Wheeler, Lydia. (2020). High Court Upholds State Law Reining in Pharmacy Drug Middlemen. Bloomberg Law. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/high-court-upholds-state-law-reining-in-pharmacy-drug-middlemen.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×