Drugmakers Promised Cheaper Insulin but Diabetics Can’t Find It

For 17 years, Kristen Whitney Daniels has been a Type 1 diabetic, needing regular doses of insulin to stay healthy. Having auto-immune disorders isn’t cheap: Whitney Daniels typically reaches her insurance’s annual $3,000 out-of-pocket maximum in about two months.

So when drugmaker Eli Lilly & Co. cut the list price this spring of its generic insulin, Lispro, to $25 a vial, the 32-year-old nonprofit executive from Shelton, Conn. set out to find it at area pharmacies.

One told Whitney Daniels it had no Lispro in stock. Another was selling it for $70 a vial, she said. A third refused to ...