By Lee Egerstrom
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced July 23 that his office has reached a settlement with pharmaceutical manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC, commonly called Sanofi, to limit what it charges diabetics to no more than $35 a month for insulin.
This is the second such agreement that Ellison and attorneys general from several states have pursued in price gouging suits against three major drug companies. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly agreed to similar settlement in February and negotiations continue with the other major insulin manufacturer, Novo Nordisk.
This is especially important for the Native American populations in Minnesota and across the nation. American Indian and Alaska Native communities have the highest rates of diabetes among racial and ethnic groups. Death rates in which diabetes was a contributing factor is highest for Native Americans throughput Minnesota.
Nationwide, health officials say AI/AN indigenous people are 2.3 times more likely than non-Hispanic whites to die from diabetes and are three times more likely to die from Type 2 diabetes than whites. The latter is linked to high rates for heart attacks and strokes.
In 2022 data assembled by the Minnesota Department of Health, 10.2 percent of Minnesotans had diabetes. The racial breakdown of this group had 16.4 percent of the AI/AN identified people, 10.9 percent of Black and African Americans, 10.1 percent of Whites, and 6.7 percent of the Asian population
Data where diabetes were determined to contribute to deaths are also reflected for Minnesota counties that are home to large Native populations. Diabetes related deaths, per 100,000 population, were 240 in Mahnomen, 183 in Kittson, 146 in Mille Lacs, 139 in Red Lake, 130 in Itasca, 129 in Renville, 128 in Redwood, 125 in Carlton, 122 in Roseau, and 112 in St. Louis counties. In contrast, the urban metro counties of Hennepin and Ramsey had 95 and 108 death rates linked with diabetes per 100,000 residents.
Ellison filed suit against the pharmaceutical companies in 2018. It charged the manufacturers with deceptive pricing that required uninsured and underinsured Minnesotans to pay extremely high prices for insulin.
The settlement went into effect July 19. Ellison’s office said Minnesotans with insurance can also choose to pay no more than $35 a month for their insulin if they choose. Consumers, however, “will need to enroll for a savings card on a Sanofi affordability website affirming their eligibility for the program.”
Ellison said his office will release information on how to register once Sanofi establishes that website. And Sanofi is required to make similar pertinent information available at pharmacists’ counters. Along with that, Sanofi will continue a Patient Connection Program providing free insulin for Minnesotans who have annual household incomes equal or less than 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, which is $124,000 for a family of four.
Sanofi provides insulin products named Admelog, Lantus, Toujeo and Apidra. The settlement will also apply to biosimilar products Sanofi may market.
This settlement follows the $35 maximum payment limit set earlier by the Biden Administration in rolling back insulin prices for American seniors covered by Medicare insurance. That was part of the President’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, Ellison said.
Diabetes patients and their families are painfully aware of how insulin prices affect their lives.
Along with the other state attorneys general, Ellison said “the litigation has already had a huge impact on insulin prices.”
“In 2018, when this lawsuit was filed, the list price of a five-pack of Apidra in an injection pen was over $625. Today, we reached an agreement bringing that price for a month’s supply of pens down to just $35.
“This is a big victory for the people of Minnesota and will do so much to help families across the state afford their lives,” he said.
That will have a disproportionately big impact on Native Minnesotans.
For more information and how to sign up, see: https://www.ag.state.mn.us/MNinsulin35.
