According to data collected by Statista, half of the global supply of diabetes drugs is sold by the US, but 1.3 million people with diabetes are forced to skip, delay, or minimise their insulin intake.
The second-largest producer of diabetic medications in the world, Eli Lilly, was among the companies last week that were deceived by fake-but-verified Twitter accounts.
In the company's name, a "verified" account with the handle @EliLillyandCo tweeted on November 10: "We are excited to announce insulin is free now," which received a large number of likes and retweets.
When the tweet was eventually reported and taken down, the harm was already done: the following day, Eli Lilly's stock price fell more than 4%, wiping out billions in market capitalization. Instantaneously, the topic of insulin pricing was back on the table.
However, as Statista notes, insulin is neither free nor inexpensive, particularly in the United States, where 1.3 million people with diabetes were for...