Whose Fault is it that Diabetics Don't Buy Insulin from Wal-Mart

Do you think it had/has anything to do with this?

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/24/us/politics/pharmacy-benefit-managers-gag-clauses.html

 

Yeah, it felt like the thread immediately went in the wrong direction. From the OP I thought the point of the thread was about how our pharmaceutical industry, seen in the microcosm of insulin, does not operate like a market should. When you have a big competitor like Walmart selling at a much lower price, you'd expect other providers to be forced to reduce their prices as well, but they don't. Thus, a market failure. FranchiseBlade perhaps makes a good point that if the Walmart insulins are not appropriate for some people's diabetes, they aren't really a competitor product for those customers. Makes sense. But, for the types of insulin that Walmart does sell (and knowing Walmart's business strategy, they'd focus on the biggest segments), any seller who can't get into that price ballpark would only have market share if the market isn't working right. There are no clear or rational price signals in healthcare, and many ways for healthcare companies to take customers captive. The whole industry needs to be restructured.

 

So . . .. my understanding . . .. is that your understanding . . . .
is that these people dying because they cannot get their insulin
are chosing to die. . . . .rather than buying from WalMart?

Is that what this thread is saying?

Rocket River

 

I think this is a reaction to all the news about people dying because they cannot afford Insulin
So
He thinks they are chosing to die rather than buy from walmart
So . . it is their own fault they are dying

Rocket River

 

Crazy thought. Maybe people with diabetes don’t all live near a Walmart. My mother has diabetes and is on a pump. She gets her insulin from the local pharmacist 10 minutes away and not the Walmart an hour and a half away. Just remeber that your day to day experience is not everyone else’s.

 

Apologies
The "whose fault is it"...threw me off


Rocket River

 

That's a weird take. Pgab was surprised people's low awareness cheap insulin at Walmart. Maybe Walmart should spend more to market it, but of course their mission is to make money for shareholders, not solve diabetes. Really what we want is for all the other providers of insulin to compete with Walmart on price.

While I have the diabetics here: I had a relative with diabetes (who couldn't afford the insulin) treat himself with nopalitos (prickly pear cactus), and it worked (plus diet changes too, to be fair). The nopalitos are surprisingly effective at driving down blood-sugar levels. I was amazed. Probably doesn't work for everybody. But, speaking of cheaper alternatives, that's probably the cheapest thing you can do, provided it works for you.

 

I will look into that
interesting. . . I was wonder what a diabetic would do in a post apocalypic world for a story

Rocket River