If you’re interested in sharing your opinion on any cultural, political or personal topic, create an account here and check out our how-to post to learn more.
____
You never get over the loss of a child. In 2017, my oldest daughter, Antavia, died in her sleep at 22 years old after going into diabetic ketoacidosis. The condition, in which blood sugar levels get dangerously high, often results in a coma or death. She had been rationing her insulin because she could not afford the $1,200 price tag for a 90-day supply on her minimum wage job.
My other daughter, Antanique will be 22 in June. She’s a student at the University of Toledo in their paralegal program. She will graduate with her bachelor’s in May, and just landed an internship at a law firm. She’s doing so well and I’m so proud of her.
Like her sister, Antanique has Type 1 diabetes. I’m terrified that what happened to Antavia will happen to her as well. Unless Congress takes immediate action on rising prescription drug costs, I could lose two daughters to the greed of Big Pharma.
It costs most pharmaceutical companies between $3.69 and $6.16 to manufacture a vial of insulin, yet Americans pay, on average, $300 per vial. Every day there are people who sacrifice their health and risk their lives because the three pharmaceutical companies that control the insulin market want to line their pockets.
Antanique’s insulin is covered through a combination of my employer-provided health insurance and a secondary program through the state of Ohio. I feel lucky to have great insurance, but I know I can make both of our lives better by leaving my current job and dedicating myself to my small business, which began as a side job to earn supplemental income. But I’m held back from my entrepreneurial endeavors because I need to stay at my full-time job that makes it possible to get her medication.
And once Antanique graduates and starts her career, I worry that she won’t be able to obtain health insurance that will cover the cost of her diabetic care. I’m also scared that the deductibles and copays will be astronomical and that she will be forced to choose between repaying her student loans or paying for the medical supplies and diabetes medication that keeps her alive.
Since Antavia passed, I’ve worked tirelessly in the fight to reduce insulin prices and to tell her story. I started a nonprofit organization called T1Diabetes Journey Inc., to raise awareness and to assist diabetics in need. And while Ohio has passed really important legislation in honor of my daughter and young people like her, virtually nothing has been done on the federal level to reduce the high cost of insulin. I’ve spoken to reporters, to elected officials and testified in Congress, and five years later, diabetics are still compelled to make the potentially deadly decision to ration their insulin.
I’m asking Congress to pass Biden’s economic agenda which will cap insulin costs at $35 a month. The plan would save Americans thousands of dollars a year on insulin. Not only would it help diabetics like my daughter, but it would ease the burden their families face as they try to keep their loved ones alive. Democrats had hoped to pass this plan last year, but Senator Joe Manchin killed the bill right before the Christmas holiday, and lawmakers have stopped talking about it. Meanwhile, as we wait for Congress to act, mothers are losing their children to preventable deaths.
My daughter will need insulin for the rest of her life, and I will never stop worrying until I know that it’s affordable in this country. But I refuse to watch my youngest daughter die from the same lack of access to insulin that killed her older sister. I will fight for her right to have the healthy, happy life that every American is entitled to.
The unreasonably high price of insulin should not lead to mothers outliving their daughters.
Through no fault of their own, type 1 diabetics cannot produce their own insulin. But that doesn’t mean they should have to spend their life savings to get the drug — or pay with their lives if they can’t.
____
Antroinette Worsham lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her daughter Antanique. She is a small business owner of Diva Defined Boutique and the founder of the nonprofit T1 Diabetes Journey.
