Sanders writes: "Today I took people with diabetes across the border from Detroit to Canada to buy insulin - medication they need to survive. In the United States, a single vial of insulin costs on average $340. But in Canada, the same exact drug is just $30."
Bernie Sanders speaking outside of the pharmacy. (photo: Bernie 2020)
29 July 19
isters, Brothers, and Friends -
Today I took people with diabetes across the border from Detroit to Canada to buy insulin — medication they need to survive.
In the United States, a single vial of insulin costs on average $340. But in Canada, the same exact drug is just $30.
Why? Because the United States is the only major country on earth that lets drug companies charge whatever they want.
One in four people with diabetes ration their insulin because it is so expensive. That means American people die because of corporate greed.
So I took people with diabetes to a pharmacy in Windsor, Ontario — just a 20 minute drive from Detroit — to buy the drugs they need to survive.
While we were there, people were able to buy the same drugs at one-tenth of the cost. One family from Indiana told me in the pharmacy that they skip paying their electric bill in order to pay for their son’s insulin. They paid $1,000 today for six months of insulin. It would have cost them $10,000 in the United States.
We have to ask ourselves why this is possible. And it is because of two factors: the greed of the pharmaceutical manufacturers, and the fact that these companies buy off politicians who will protect their greed.
These lower prices are possible in Canada because that country negotiates drug prices with drug companies. They have the common sense to say that drug company profits are not more important than the lives of their citizens.
The United States must negotiate for lower drug prices, and it must allow cheaper drugs to be imported from other countries.
Our job now is to end the incredible corruption and greed in the pharmaceutical industry.
When we are in the White House, we will take on Big Pharma and we will win. Thank you for being a part of this.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
