WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — “According to the American Diabetes Association, the total cost of diabetes in the United States was nearly $413 billion last year,” Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said. “That’s up 27% over the past six years.”
Sanders, chairman of the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions committee, said during a hearing on Thursday that the problem is only expected to get worse.
“According to the CDC, the number of children in America with Type 2 diabetes is estimated to skyrocket by nearly 700% over the next 40 years unless we get a handle on that,” Sanders said.
Lawmakers on the committee say addressing the problem is two-fold: bringing down the cost of prescription drugs and holding the food industry accountable.
Dr. Kasia Lipska, associate professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine, told the committee that the rising cost of insulin has put some of her patient’s health in jeopardy.
“These prices are absolutely outrageous,” Dr. Lipska said. “And what happens is these patients cannot afford these medications and so they go without.”
Senator Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) said because many Americans are turning to diabetes drugs, like Ozempic, to improve other conditions like obesity and heart disease, it has made it harder for her constituents to access the medication.
“With higher demand for these medications, I’m hearing from constituents with diabetes who are experiencing really long delays to get their prescriptions filled,” Hassan said. “So how can Congress ensure that all populations that can benefit from this medication have access to it?”
“The supply issue is important,” Dr. Lipska said in response to Hassan. “But there’s also really important shortages because of the price and I think that is where this committee can really help to ensure that patients can afford these drugs which are transformative, but not if you cannot take it.”
Sanders says lawmakers also need to address how to prevent obesity in the first place.
“We must have the courage to take on the greed of the food and beverage industry,” Sanders said. “A good place to start would be to ban junk food ads targeted to children.”
Dr. Lipska agreed and said it’s up to Congress to hold both the drug and food industries more accountable.
“The bottom line is that we have a food industry that profit from making people sick and a drug industry that profits from treating them,” Dr. Lipska said. “We must break that cycle.”
