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Three months later, T1 diabetic Alec Raeshawn ‘Big Al’ Smith, 26, was found dead in his Minnesota apartment, after rationing his insulin because he had aged out of his parents’ insurance and couldn’t afford his own, The Nation reported. The cause of death was DKA, according to his obituary.

Insulin prices continued to increase. Insulin - so common and used to treat diabetes. Tell your story to the mom of Alec Raeshawn Smith, an otherwise healthy 26 year old who died because he aged out of his mom’s insurance and couldn’t afford the insulin he needed.

— Rob Schermerhorn (@RobScherme) January 11, 2019

Some drug companies have been held accountable for the rising prices. The state of Illinois recently recovered $135 million from a settlement made with Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. following a 2005 lawsuit filed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan against 47 drug makers. The lawsuit alleged that Teva fraudulently inflated wholesale prices to receive more money in Medicaid reimbursements.

According to the White House Council of Economic Advisers, prescription drugs prices fell almost 3 percent in 2018 when adjusted for general inflation, the largest decline in prescription drug prices in 46 years.

Data from the first 10 days of January 2019, however, reveal a price hike in 490 drugs, including approximately two dozen Johnson & Johnson (J&J) drugs, which averaged a 6 to 7 percent price increase, a spokeswoman for Rx Savings Solutions, a prescription drug purchasing solutions company, told ABC News.

J&J said that the average price rise for about two dozen drugs will be 4.2 percent this year, according to Reuters. The pharmaceutical company said rebates and discounts that were negotiated with payers -— such as insurance companies, private employers, and the government -— would improve drug access for patients since they would contribute to drops in net prices.

For Stock, however, any price increase on drugs that are required simply to live are unethical.

“The drug companies are holding our lives hostage so they can profit. Everyone needs insulin to live, but only diabetics have to pay for it”.

Dr. Naomi Kaplan is a resident physician in physical medicine and rehabilitation, and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

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