U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders made a campaign stop in Windsor on Sunday, pledging to cap insulin costs in his country to stem the flow of Americans crossing the border to buy cheaper, life-saving insulin in Canada.
Sanders entered The Older Walkerville Pharmacy on Sunday surrounded by people cheering and clapping. Well over 100 people attended the campaign stop.
“We love our Canadian neighbours and we thank them so much, but we should not have to come to Canada to get the medicine we need for our kids to stay alive,” said Sanders to the crowd gathered out front of the pharmacy. “We can do that in America.”
The Democratic candidate crossed the border with American diabetics to purchase life-saving insulin, used to regulate blood sugar in diabetic patients, which costs roughly one tenth the price in Canada than it does stateside.
Kathy Sego and her son, Hunter, travelled with Sanders to buy the cheaper Canadian insulin.
Hunter is a type one diabetic and his insulin in the U.S. costs roughly $1,500 a month.
On Sunday, the pair was able to buy a six month supply for a $1,000.
“I paid a thousand dollars. That’s still — less than what I pay a month in the United States,” Kathy tearfully told the crowd. “How can we be the greatest country and I am paying that much?
Hunter would dangerously ration his insulin because his family was skipping bill payments in order to afford his medication.
“We know as parents that we would do anything in the world for our children. I would live in a box. I would sacrifice everything I had to keep my child alive,” said Kathy.
The trips by Americans to buy Canadian insulin, known as the “Caravans to Canada”, have not gone unnoticed by the medical community.
A letter sent to federal health minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor representing 15 health organizations, ahead of the trip
"The Canadian medicine supply is not sufficient to support both Canadian and U.S. consumers," the letter states. "The supply simply does not, and will not, exist within Canada to meet such demands.”
Those attending Sanders’ stop in walkerville, including a Windsor family living with a type one diabetic daughter, admit the issue is on their minds.
“It is a little bit concerning but I'm sure there's got to be a way to figure it out between the supply they have for the states in here,” said Paul Whited, attending Sanders’ appearance with his 8-year-old diabetic daughter. “But, I think if they put the right regulations in in the U.S. that would limit the need for Americans to have to travel to a different country to get access to insulin that's affordable for them.”
If elected president, Sanders proposed a price cap on insulin sold in America tied to the average price for the drug across six countries — which would include Canada. Sanders also pledged to more aggressively pursue alleged price fixing of medication in the US.
Sanders feels capping the price on insulin in the U.S. will dramatically reduce the number of Americans making the trip to Canada to buy insulin.
“Our job now is to end the incredible corruption and greed that exists in the pharmaceutical industry,” said Sanders.
