Lilies for Evil Eli Lilly

While I am inclined to cuss out the blog host again for more changes that make things more complicated for aa blind guy to navigate online, I’ll save that for another day. One of the good things from this Google-owned/affiliated provider is that I get good stats read-outs. When someone reaches my site through a search on Google, I can actually see what search terms brought them to my blog. Other simple searches can tell me just what posts were viewed.
There has been an increase in traffic to the post that lauded Wal-Mart for coming forward with the first generic insulin and the Eli Lilly and Company’s counter-commercial reprisals, all a decade and more ago.
The recent hits to the slightly older post are certainly related to the fact that Wal-Mart has made another change to their ReliOn insulin. I say another change because the last one was in October 2010, when Eli Lilly Company took over the manufacture of the Wal-Mart generic.
I used one exact search term that lead a reader to my site, "walmart changes insulan manufacturer." (Sic) One of the top-ranked referrals was to the ReliOn site, http://www.relion.com/for-healthcare-professionals/downloads/Relion_Insulin_Change.pdf
Even after the latest change, ReliOn displayed the warnings used when Wal-Mart switched to the Lilly-made generic two years ago.
After burning my eyes out on the first four pages of results, I saw no hit likely to feature the recent 2012 change of ReliOn insulin. Wal-Mart, in less than two years, has switched manufacturing company to the Novo Nordisk company’s "Novolin."
My guess is that Eli Lilly and Company got greedy and wanted higher prices, so Wal-Mart turned to a company less greedy. I found nothing to support that suspicion, but then again I found nothing to dispute it either. The last time I bought non-Wal-Mart insulin was in 2005. It was somewhere around $54.00. One forum post I glimpsed in researching this post claimed that prices now ranged from $75.00 to $125.00. I could get online pricing from neither CVS nor Walgreen’s because I do not have registered prescriptions with them. Oddly enough, I had plenty of options for syringes and insulin covers to go over the vials. I wondered if those were like the knitted things meant to beautify spare rolls of toilet paper.
This recent change in the Wal-Mart insulin is being stated by some pharmacists. I was told in one out of two purchases in the last month. The price has held steady at $24.88.
I have noticed some changes since using the Novo-Nordisk product. It’s duration does not seem to last beyond the 12-hour range I got from the Lilly stuff, but the Nordisk product does seem to be coming to strength a little later and staying stronger in the six to eight hour range.
What they say is true. Changes in insulin type or manufacturer should be monitored closely.