THE HEARTBREAKING TALE OF ALEC RAESHAWN SMITH—TAKE NOTE, BIG PHARMA

It's not a medicine if you can't afford it...

How Insulin Became Unaffordable

In 1921, on a shoestring budget at the University of Toronto, several young scientists began investigating a possible treatment for Type 1 diabetes. They found that by grinding up and purifying animal pancreases and then regularly injecting the material, they could treat Type 1 diabetes in dogs.

After first testing the drug for safety by injecting themselves, the scientists treated a 14-year-old boy with Type 1 diabetes. His recovery was almost miraculous, going from death’s door to good health in a matter of weeks.

By 1923, the scientists had won the Nobel prize and the treatment had entered mass production in collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company and the Swedish organisation Nordisk. The scientists patented the drug and sold it to the University of Toronto for three dollars, (one dollar for each researcher), thinking that this was the best way to ensure that affordable treatment would be available to everyone who needed it.

With a fast forward to th…