[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 39 (Tuesday, March 5, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1639-S1640]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Diabetes

  Mr. President, millions of Americans got up this morning and faced 
the challenge of diabetes. For most of them, it is now routine to 
measure their blood sugar and to inject insulin when necessary so that 
they avoid the terrible outcomes of untreated diabetes.
  At the highest levels of government, the person I think about 
immediately is Sonia Sotomayor, who is an Associate Justice of the U.S. 
Supreme Court. Hers is an amazing life story. This woman from a Puerto 
Rican family went to law school, became recognized as a talented and 
brilliant lawyer, and eventually ascended to serve on the U.S. Supreme 
Court.
  I got to meet her during the period of time when she was going 
through her nomination process. She slipped and fell at an airport in 
New York and broke her ankle and couldn't get around as much as she 
wanted to, so she parked herself in my office upstairs and invited 
Senators to come in to meet her. Between those meetings, I stepped in 
the room and got to know her and learned a lot about her.
  It turns out, to no surprise, that this wonderful Supreme Court 
Justice from the Bronx is a passionate fan of the New York Yankees 
baseball team. We talked about baseball, and I said to her: 
Occasionally, the Yankees play the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Would you 
join me there?
  She said: Sure. Invite me.
  Well, I wasn't sure she would actually show up if I did, but I 
invited her. A few years ago, Justice Sotomayor came to Wrigley Field. 
She was a great sport. They had a Cubs jersey for her to wear, which I 
am sure she didn't exactly feel comfortable in, and she went

[[Page S1640]]

out and threw the first pitch. We had a wonderful time.
  The reason I tell that story is, during the course of that baseball 
game, as we sat together at Wrigley Field, I noticed that several times 
she tested herself and her blood sugar because of the diabetes she 
battles with every day. That is not an uncommon experience with 
diabetics.
  What is uncommon is what has happened to the price of insulin facing 
people with diabetes in America. You have to go back almost 100 years 
to the discovery of insulin. This is not a drug that just appeared on 
the market.
  Almost 100 years ago, researchers in Canada ended up discovering 
insulin extracted from animals, and they ended up making it available 
to Americans and everyone, for that matter, because they surrendered 
their patent rights. Those who discovered insulin said: We don't want 
to make money off of this. This is a lifesaving drug.
  Over the years, insulin has evolved from human-based insulin to what 
is known as analogue insulin and synthetic insulin in different dosage, 
but the fundamental chemical that is saving the lives of those who 
suffer from diabetes has been known for almost a century.
  What has happened to the cost of the insulin that has been around for 
many decades? It has risen dramatically. Last week, I took to the floor 
for the first pharma fleecing award, which went to the three companies 
that make insulin and sell it in America today. Those companies are 
Sanofi, Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly.
  I took them to task for this increasing cost of insulin, a drug that 
has been around for so long. They are just raising the cost way beyond 
the reach of many people who have to pay for this lifesaving drug. I 
told the story of a young man covered by his parent's insurance--thanks 
to ObamaCare, the Affordable Care Act--who, when he reached age 26, was 
on his own, managed a restaurant, couldn't afford the insulin dosage 
that was required, rationed his own insulin, and died as a result of 
that decision.
  I made the point on the floor of the Senate that these pharmaceutical 
companies are not sensitive to the reality of life and death in what 
they are charging Americans for the cost of insulin.
  Yesterday, there was a news flash. Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical 
company, one of the producers of insulin products, announced that they 
were going to reduce the cost of a generic form of insulin known as 
Humalog to $140 a dosage. That is bringing it down from as much as $329 
to $140--dramatic.
  Let's put this in perspective for one moment. We checked the records, 
and it turns out you can buy that exact product made by that same 
company for sale in Canada for as little as $38. They are expecting--I 
think Eli Lilly is expecting all of us to send flowers to their 
corporate headquarters in Indianapolis--to send flowers because they 
reduced the cost of their drug from $329 to $140 a dosage. I am not 
going to send them any flowers, and I am not going to express any great 
gratitude. They are charging Americans, under this new bargain 
approach, almost four times what Canadians are paying for exactly the 
same product--four times.
  To the other drug companies involved in this that are producing 
insulin: America is watching. If you are going to continue to kite the 
cost of this lifesaving drug, pressure is going to grow politically 
even to the point where the U.S. Senate may take action. I think that 
day is coming.
  So, for Eli Lilly: Nice first step. When you bring the cost of 
insulin in the United States for the same products that you are selling 
in Canada to the same level, then I will send you some flowers.