SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is diving into the prescription drug business, attempting to achieve what no other state has done: produce its own brand of generic insulin and sell it at below-market prices to people with diabetes like Sabrina Caudillo.
Caudillo said she feels like a “prisoner” to the three major pharmaceutical companies that control the price of insulin, which ranges from $300 to $400 per vial without insurance. The price Caudillo paid in 2017, when she was diagnosed, is etched into her memory: $274.
“I remember crying my eyes out at CVS and realizing it’s going to be like this for the rest of my life,” said Caudillo, 24, a college student who lives in La Puente, in Southern California. She now has insurance that covers the entire cost of the lifesaving drug but still has trouble affording her insulin supplies and paying the monthly premium for her plan.
