美国国家公共电台 NPR 'We're Fighting For Our Lives': Patients Protest Sky-High Insulin Prices

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Insulin is getting more and more expensive, and that's costing lives. Some people with Type 1 diabetes¹ have died because they couldn't afford the insulin they needed to live. Diabetes activists² like Angela Lautner of Elsmere, Ky., say news reports of those deaths have called attention to the crisis.

ANGELA LAUTNER: But what really needs to be told is what Americans are doing to help stop this.

MARTIN: Today we're going to hear the story of a group fighting to bring insulin prices down. Bram Sable-Smith reports.

(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #1: (Chanting) Medicine for people.

BRAM SABLE-SMITH, BYLINE³: Angela Lautner was one of more than 70 people demonstrating outside the Indianapolis headquarters of pharmaceutical⁴ giant Eli Lilly and Company in September.

(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #1: (Chanting) Medicine for people.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #1: (Chanting) Not for profit.

SABLE-SMITH: There were protesters from at least 12 states, mainly Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, but also from as far away as New York. It was organized by the nonprofit T1International. The group advocates for people with Type 1 diabetes around the world. Type 1 diabetes requires daily treatment with insulin, and T1International founder⁵ Elizabeth Pfiester says the price of that insulin has taken center stage.

ELIZABETH PFIESTER: Insulin is kind of the face of the drug pricing crisis in America because we literally⁶ die without it. We're fighting for our lives.

SABLE-SMITH: The price of insulin is skyrocketing. The cost of a single vial has more than doubled since 2012 alone. And despite a series of recent deaths of people who were unable to afford the insulin they needed, there's been little substantive⁷ action by lawmakers to bring those prices down, so consumers are taking matters into their own hands. Pfiester and T1International decided⁸ to put pressure directly on the three companies that make insulin - Sanofi of France, Novo Nordisk of Denmark and Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis. Eli Lilly is a sponsor of NPR. Most of that advocacy happens online. But last year, the group held their first demonstration⁹ at the Eli Lilly headquarters.

PFIESTER: It was kind of the first time where people living with Type 1 were able to physically¹⁰ stand and show that people are angry enough to come out.

SABLE-SMITH: They held a second demonstration in May and a third one this September.

(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #2: What do we want?

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #2: Insulin for all.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #2: When do we want it?

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS #2: Now.

SABLE-SMITH: They're asking for three things - transparency about how much it costs to make a vial of insulin, how much profits come from each vial and to lower the list price. Eli Lilly declined NPR's request for an interview, but in a statement, a spokesman said, quote, "we understand why people are making their voices heard," end quote. Meanwhile, the number of protesters has swelled¹¹ with people like Angela Lautner. For 18 years, Lautner thought she was alone in her struggles. She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2000 when she was in flight school, chasing her dream of becoming a commercial airline pilot. The diagnosis¹² meant she was not allowed to become one.

LAUTNER: I cried harder over losing my dream to fly than I did at the diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes.

SABLE-SMITH: Over time, though, that's changed as she jumped through hurdle¹³ after hurdle to get the insulin she needs to live, spending hours on the phone with insurance companies, switching insulin to save costs, even moving to a new state. Then last year, she noticed other people with Type 1 diabetes tweeting similar stories under the hashtag #insulinforall.

LAUTNER: And I thought, my goodness, there's more people than me. I'm not the only one out here.

SABLE-SMITH: And she decided to get involved. After the first rally at Eli Lilly last year, Lautner organized her own group of diabetes activists in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana.

LAUTNER: We had people show up. And it wasn't to talk about it. It was to organize.

SABLE-SMITH: And organize they have. They've met with legislators in all three states about establishing emergency insulin prescription¹⁴ refills and about making the cost of insulin more transparent¹⁵. And there are similar groups starting up in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Illinois all pushing for the same thing - to make the voices of people with diabetes heard. For NPR News, I'm Bram Sable-Smith in Indianapolis.

1 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

10 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

11 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

12 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

13 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

14 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

15 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。