[dmreedy]

You are allowed to buy generic/affordable "older" varieties of insulin. It can be got at Walmart for $25 per vial. It is a "regular insulin" as opposed to the more modern insulin analogs; a functional but inferior technology that requires a very restrictive and rigid diet, as opposed to modern combinations of fast and slow acting analogs that allow for something closer to a "normal", albeit carb-cautious diet. It will, to quote my endocrinologist, "keep you alive". It is not part of a modern regimen for a Type 1 Diabetic.

My understanding is that it is manufactured by Novo Nordisk, the makers of more modern, name-brand insulins, as well (they make the fast-acting insulin aspart called Novolog that I take as part of my own regimen).

For further reference: https://diabetesstrong.com/walmart-insulin/

[outworlder]

> Regular / NPH

That's what my brother used to take 20 years ago.

They are not exactly 'inferior technology' and there are uses for them. But you are right that diabetics these days don't generally take them.

There are generic long lasting insulin alternatives, but none that I know of are available in the US. I believe that's what CA wants to do.

[dmreedy]

Yeah, I don't mean to decry their effectiveness, only what they demand of the user in order to render that effectiveness. They were the gold standard up until relatively recently, and saved a lot of lives.

The modern programs of a combination of fast/slow analogs are more flexible and adaptable. The demand on the user is still pretty high, but it's a bit closer to baseline.

EDIT: and I guess I should say, I've got plenty of bias from my own relatively narrow experience. I'm sure there are different regimens and different opinions amongst various doctors

[gnicholas]

So is CA going to make the new kind or the old kind? If people don't want the old kind, then I hope they're making the new kind!