FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

October 23, 2019

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Eli Lilly Celebrates $5.5B in Q3 Earnings While People Die Because They Can’t Afford Insulin

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Eli Lilly reported $5.5 billion in revenue during its third quarter shareholder meeting. Meanwhile, one in four people with diabetes are forced to ration their insulin because drug corporations like Eli Lilly price gouge patients who need the medication to survive.

The following statement is from Affordable Insulin NOW Campaign Director Rosemary Enobakhare:

“Eli Lilly raked in an eye-popping $5.5 billion in revenue this quarter. CEO David Ricks claimed a nearly $20 million salary last year. And yet, one in four people with diabetes are forced to ration their insulin because drug corporations like Eli Lilly have increased the price of insulin by 569% in just the last few years. Eli Lilly brought in enough money in just this quarter to literally pay the cost of every hospitalization for complications from diabetes in America. 

The contrast between these numbers speaks for itself. 

While Eli Lilly celebrates the sky-high earnings they make off of people who can’t live without their products, we mourn Alec Smith, who died at the age of 26 because he couldn’t afford Eli Lilly’s insulin, Humalog. We mourn 21 year-old Jesimya David Scherer-Radcliff, who passed away this year because he was forced to ration insulin. We mourn Josh Wilkerson, who died at 27 because he was rationing insulin to pay for his wedding. 

We mourn all of the lives needlessly taken by drug corporations like Eli Lilly that price people out of their own survival. 

Eli Lilly: you have the blood of innocent people on your hands. The choice is yours — accept the moral imperative of affordable insulin now, or we will be sure that voters hold you, and the politicians you pay off, accountable for the lives you have claimed.”

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