Video / Stop Price Gouging

Stop Price Gouging

In Nevada today, approximately 281,355 Nevada adults, or 12.4%, have diabetes, including 75,000 who do not know they have the disease. Another 787,000 of Nevada adults, or 38.5%, have pre-diabetes. According to recent estimates, during their lifetime, at least 1 in 3 adults will develop diabetes by 2050; half of all Latinos and half of African-American women nationally are projected to develop the disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Children who develop the disease face a lifetime of medication and disease management. Diabetes is a public health epidemic that costs Nevadans $2.4 billion every year in medical costs. Prescribed retail pharmaceuticals account for an estimated 57.6% of total diabetes healthcare spending. Insulin, the primary drug for controlling diabetes, was discovered 95 years ago, but drug companies have raised insulin prices as much as 450% beyond inflation since 1996. “Diabetes does not discriminate and this epidemic is not a partisan political issue,” said Geoconda Arguello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union and Chairwoman of the Nevada Diabetes Political Coalition. “Republicans, Independents and Democrats can work together for the good of Nevadans.” Every day in the United States: 3,835 Americans will be diagnosed with diabetes and it will cause 200 Americans to undergo an amputation, 136 to enter end-stage kidney disease treatment, and 1,795 to develop severe retinopathy that can lead to vision loss and blindness (American Diabetes Association). The Nevada Diabetes Political Coalition has launched campaign in every legislative district asking constituents to encourage their elected representatives to hold drug makers accountable for high prices and ensure Nevadans have affordable access to needed diabetes medicines. www.nevadadiabetespoliticalcoalition.org