staysblazed_xo
♥ ⁴²⁰ queen ♥
"Josh Wilkerson was alone, in the sleeping quarters above the northern Virginia dog kennel where he worked, when he suffered a series of strokes that would prove fatal.
He had aged out of his stepfather’s health insurance plan on his 26th birthday and eventually switched to over-the-counter insulin. Like many other diabetics his age, he could not afford the prescription brand he needed.
A few hours after taking another dose of the lower-grade medication that June day in Leesburg, Mr Wilkerson was in the throes of a diabetic coma – his blood sugar level 17 times higher than what is considered normal.
His death at age 27 illustrates the worst-case scenario for thousands of lower-income people living with diabetes in the United States who depend on over-the-counter insulin that – for $25 (£21) a vial at Walmart – sells for one-tenth of what the more effective version costs.
“It’s very hard,” said his fiancee, Rose Walters, 27, who, like Mr Wilkerson, was born with a congenital form of the disease known as type 1 diabetes. “How many more young type 1 diabetes patients have to die before something finally changes?”"
Link!
He had aged out of his stepfather’s health insurance plan on his 26th birthday and eventually switched to over-the-counter insulin. Like many other diabetics his age, he could not afford the prescription brand he needed.
A few hours after taking another dose of the lower-grade medication that June day in Leesburg, Mr Wilkerson was in the throes of a diabetic coma – his blood sugar level 17 times higher than what is considered normal.
His death at age 27 illustrates the worst-case scenario for thousands of lower-income people living with diabetes in the United States who depend on over-the-counter insulin that – for $25 (£21) a vial at Walmart – sells for one-tenth of what the more effective version costs.
“It’s very hard,” said his fiancee, Rose Walters, 27, who, like Mr Wilkerson, was born with a congenital form of the disease known as type 1 diabetes. “How many more young type 1 diabetes patients have to die before something finally changes?”"
Link!
