The pharmaceutical industry is the single most profitable slice of the American economy. Deregulation and a greed for profits have driven companies to hike up the prices for insulin, an essential drug taken by more than 7 million diabetic Americans.

Black, Hispanic and Asian adults in the US are all significantly more likely to have diabetes than white adults. Given that black and Hispanic people in the US are also less likely to be insured, when drug prices increase that can simply mean spending less on food and other essential items. Costs have risen so high that one in four diabetes patients say they ration their insulin, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in January.

Despite medical advances and prevention efforts, diabetes deaths are expected to increase in the US.

Photograph: Mona Chalabi/The Guardian

Sources

On the prevalence of diabetes: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National diabetes fact sheet, 2017

On health insurance coverage by race and ethnicity: Census Bureau, 2017 (Table HIC-9)

On soaring insulin prices, Connecture, 2018

On deaths, Diabetes 2030: Insights from Yesterday, Today, and Future Trends, published in 2017

Read more: The Insulin Racket, published by The American Prospect