Most diabetics require some dose of insulin throughout the course of a day. Afterall, this is a condition in which the pancreas isn't making enough insulin to support the body. Because it's such a common need for diabetics, the cost of it is a frequent topic in the news — and there have been a lot of headlines in the past few years about the rising cost of insulin.

According to data from the non-profit Health Care Cost Institute, the price of insulin nearly doubled between 2012 and 2016. There are many factors involved in the price increases, but one of the most impactful is the lack of competition. Three companies control the vast majority of the insulin on the market today (Novo Nordisk, Sanofi-Aventis, and Eli Lilly), which means they have a near-monopoly on insulin. Without competition, there isn't much incentive for the companies to lower their prices.

One of the major complications of the cost of insulin is that it needs to be refrigerated at all times — even during shipping. This makes finding more affordable insulin (like from online international pharmacies) much more difficult. We can't guarantee that the insulin will remain cold enough while it ships from, say Vancouver to New Jersey, or Germany to New York.

While we'd love to be able to offer more affordable insulin for diabetics struggling with the high (and climbing higher) costs, we can't do so in good conscience. If the temperature dips too low or rises too high during shipping, it could put you in danger.

This is why purchasing insulin from brick-and-mortar pharmacies is so common. They'll have bulk purchases brought in by special equipment or by companies that are built for transporting temperature-sensitive products. Unfortunately, that makes Americans more vulnerable to price gouging.

While an executive order was signed in 2020 in an attempt to alleviate the financial burden of insulin on senior citizens, time will tell as to whether or not it helps though we believe it almost surely won't. And with a new administration taking over, it's all up in the air as to which executive orders will stay and which ones will be replaced.