A story about the impact of an 8 percent hike in insulin prices featured an interview with Vanessa Rein, MD, clinical associate professor, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. 

"The patients have been most impacted are the patients that don't have health insurance, patients that are underinsured and patients that need a lot of insulin,” said Dr. Rein, explaining that some patients have been forced to skip refills or try to stretch their insulin, or use expired insulin. 

"The result of that is high blood sugar, which leads to a lot of serious health problems," she said. 

Cost issues are ain urgent problem for patients nationwide, said Dr. Rein, but at present a systematic solution isn't clear. "It's estimated that in the next several decades, more than two-thirds of Americans will have diabetes, so we really need cost relief."

Resources:

• "Diabetics feeling pinch as insulin prices rise 8 percent," WISC-TV, May 27, 2017