Dying for insulin in the USA

Why do Americans have to pay so much for this life-saving drug? There are reports of some uninsured diabetics dying as a consequence. Even the health insurers and drug manufacturers say the pricing system is broken.

Manuela Saragosa speaks to Laura Marston, a type-1 diabetes sufferer and campaigner from Washington DC, about how she had to sell her house and leave her hometown just to get access to affordable insulin - and she says she is one of the lucky ones. Meanwhile the US Congress and various state law enforcement agencies are now looking into why the price of insulin is so many times higher in the US than in other developed countries.

So who is to blame? Robert Zirkelbach, executive vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, represents the drugs companies, while David Merritt, executive vice president of public affairs at America's Health Insurance Plans, represents the insurers.

(Photo: Insulin being produced at a factory in France; Credit: Getty Images)