Three of the biggest manufacturers of diabetes treatments, Sanofi SA, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly & Co are being sued for illegally scheming to fix insulin prices.

After the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission began investigating these companies for price collusion, they noticed a pattern: the prices for insulin sold by Eli Lilly, Sanofi, and Novo Nordisk have rose in tandem, and by identical amounts, over several years. As a result, the cost of insulin has almost tripled - from $231 to $736 a year per patient - between 2002 and 2013 alone.

With every price-increase, this life-saving medication becomes unaffordable and inaccessible to the many people who rely on it to live a safe and healthy life.

This illegal scheming doesn’t just cost patients money. Desperate diabetic patients have resorted to injecting themselves with expired insulin or skipping multiple meals to control their blood sugar.

With 1.4 million Americans being diagnosed with diabetes every year, raising their insulin prices is one way these drug companies can ensure rising annual profits. It’s time they stopped profiting at the expense of people’s health.

It's time these large drug companies start serving patients’, not shareholders’, interests.

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