greed. the patent was donated to the public domain back when synthisis was discoverd but since the manufacturers have taken up tweaking it patenting that tweak then charging more and more. other countries dont have this problem with insulin. thats why you hear about people going to Canada and Mexico to get meds cheap.
"old insulin" pre-~1980 was made from grinding up animal (cow, pig) pancreas and extracting a tiny amount of pure insulin through a chemical extraction process. Wikipedia posts a ratio of 2 tons of animal matter to 8 oz of insulin. It was "easy" but didn't scale up very well.
Because it's not just plain insulin. Insulin, for the miracle drug that it is, doesn't work for everyone equally. Depending on personal dietary habits, unique pharmacokinetic responses, how far diabetes has progressed... sometimes it lowers blood glucose too quickly or for too long or too short a time. So they've developed a hundred different formulations, and doctors basically just keep trying new ones until the patient gets the results they're both after. These new formulations cost more than plain insulin. They're almost all patentable and no generics are available. Wouldn't be shocked if old-style plain insulin hasn't (more or less) just followed inflation.
Has it? Keep in mind that there's always been constant inflation, and that people keep earning more money per hour worked even after inflation, and that products tend to get better - even insulin is now better than before.
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of the Market! How unsearchable are His judgments and decisions and how unfathomable and untraceable are His ways!
