PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Action Center
    • Take Action
    • Contact Your Government Officials
    • Reliable Sources of News
  • Events
    • Upcoming PACG Events
    • PACG Calendar
    • Community Events
  • Groups
    • PACG Book Club
    • What is an Issue Forum?
    • Civil Rights Forum
    • Environmental Forum
    • Gender Equity Forum
    • Health Care Reform Forum
  • Donate
    • Donate to PACG
    • Endowment >
      • Donate to the Dick Fallow Fund for Social Justice
      • Honoring Dick Fallow
      • Grant Application
  • Contact
    • About
    • Join Us
    • Sign Up for the Progressive Action Update
    • Make a Submission to the Progressive Action Update

"Pay or Die" Documentary About Insulin

2/23/2022

0 Comments

 

"Pay or Die" documentary about the high price of insulin

Health Care Reform Forum

As part of our Make Meds Affordable campaign, we are excited about the documentary "Pay or Die." It is a heartfelt telling of  Americans with type 1 diabetes and their struggles to secure their life-saving insulin medication.

Director/producer, Scott Ruderman, states:
I was a carefree, 19-year-old college freshman when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and my life was forever changed. Since that day, I have walked a life-or-death tightrope each and every day. Living with type 1 diabetes means having to micromanage the insulin I take, the food I eat, and the activities I do, in order to keep my blood sugar from going too high—risking blindness, amputation, and death—or too low, risking seizures and—again—death. 
I thought that was hard enough. But then I turned 26, and aged out of my parents’ health insurance plan. That’s when I came face-to-face with the crushing financial reality of living with type 1 diabetes in America. 

Most of my adult life has been defined by one inescapable question: How can I make enough money as a filmmaker to afford the insulin I need to stay alive?” - Director Scott Ruderman
In 2018, my partner Rachael and I went to Vancouver, Canada to visit her family. Rachael encouraged me to see if I could get access to affordable insulin while we were there. We walked into a pharmacy, and the pharmacist showed me all the different types of insulin, ranging in price from $19 to $22 per vial. Right there and then, my eyes welled up with tears. Those exact same insulin vials—the same manufacturers, same chemical compositions—cost upwards of $300 per vial in the United States. How could that be? 

I began to dig deeper. I reached out to other Americans living with type 1 diabetes and learned about the extreme measures they were taking simply to stay alive. I started to investigate the complex web of businesses and policies behind the soaring price of insulin in America. What I learned left me shocked. And dizzy. And profoundly certain that I had to tell this story.

PAY OR DIE is a deeply personal journey for me, and a story that will resonate with anyone interested in the inequities and devastating failures of our broken system. 

​Watch a preview of the film here.

Learn facts about insulin and drug companies.

Listen to an interview with the producers at "Diabetes Connections" on YouTube.

If you are able to support production of documentaries like this, or if you want to be on their advocacy mailing list, learn more here.

Deb Sperry


Picture
From Diabetes Connections on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFdihF6AvoP5w2yY1PiCiJw
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    August 2012
    May 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008

    Categories

    All
    2020 Platform Resolutions
    3 Actions 3 Days
    3 Actions - 3 Days
    3 Months
    3 Weeks
    Abortion
    Abortion Is Health Care
    Absentee Voting
    ACA
    ACA Enrollment
    ACLU
    Action Alert
    Adolescence
    Affordable Care Act
    African American History
    African History
    After Action Report
    A Message From The Board
    A Message From The President
    A Message From The Webmaster
    A Message To Our Membership
    Annual Picnic And Pie Auction
    Asylum
    Auto Theft Accountability Program
    Black History
    Black Lives Matter
    Board
    Book Club
    Books
    Candidate Questions
    Car Theft Accountability
    Caucus Training
    CDC
    Celebrating Earth Month
    Choice
    Citizens Advisory Panels
    Civil Disobedience
    Civil Rights
    Civil Rights Forum
    Civl Right
    Clergy For A New Drug Policy
    Climate Change
    Climate Crisis Voter
    Community Events
    Connection With Others
    COVID 19
    COVID-19
    COVID Relief
    Crisis At The Border
    DACA
    DAPL
    Davenport Bearing Witness
    Dick Fallow Endowment
    Donations
    Dreamers
    Dr. Kathleen Belew
    Drug Courts
    Drug Policy Forum
    Drug Policy Reform
    Drug Policy Reform Forum
    Duckworth
    Durbin
    Early Voting
    Earth Day
    Earth Month
    Earth Month Proclamation
    Earth Week
    Education
    Elections
    Environ
    Environment
    Environmental Forum
    Environmental Voter
    EPA
    Ernst
    Family Separation
    FARMERS MARKET
    Fundraising
    Gender
    Gender Equity
    Gender Equity Forum
    Global Climate Strike
    Government Shutdown
    Grants
    Grassley
    Green Drinks
    Green Holiday
    Green New Deal
    Gun Regulations
    Gun Violence
    Harm Reduction
    Health Care
    Health Care Reform Forum
    Hear Our Voice
    Holiday Party
    I Am The Future
    Illinois Local Government
    Illinois State Government
    Illiteracy
    Immigrants And Trafficking
    Immigration
    Impeachment Inquiry
    Inauguration 2021 Party
    Informed Voter
    Instagram
    Iowa Caucus
    Iowa Local Government
    Iowa State Government
    Iowa Women United
    Jobs
    Juvenile Justice
    Juvenile Justice Coalition
    Kavanaugh
    Kriss Wells
    Labor
    Leahy
    Legislative Forum
    Legislative Session
    LGBTQ+
    Lights For Liberty
    Living Lands And Waters
    Lobbying
    Local Culture
    LULAC
    Lunch & Learn
    Make Meds Affordable
    Marijuana Legalization
    Martin Luther King
    Mass Incarceration
    MCCQC
    Medical Cannabis
    Medicare
    Medicinal Canabis
    Membership Drive
    Members Of Congress
    Message From The Board
    Message From The President
    Message To Our Membership
    MLK Interpretive Center
    Monthly Environmental Celebration
    MoveOn
    Music
    NAACP
    Nahant Marsh
    National Organization For Women
    Native American
    Net Metering
    Networking
    Nobody Is Above The Law
    No Hate In Our States
    Nonbinary
    Nonviolent Resistance
    Novel Coronavirus
    No Wall
    Of Interest To Our Community
    Of Interest To PACG Forum Members
    One Human Family
    Op Ed
    Operation Reach Out
    Opioid Epidemic
    OSHA
    Our Office Manager
    Out & About
    PACG Action
    PACG Event
    PACG Events
    PACG History
    PACG In The News
    PACG Parties
    PACG's 15th Anniversary
    Pandemic
    Paris To Pittsburgh
    Paris To Pittsburgh Movie
    Partners Of Scott County Watersheds
    Peace Circle
    Peace Forum
    Peace & Justice
    Peace Vigil
    Picnic
    Pictures
    Power Of 3
    PPE
    Prescription Drug Pricing
    Pre-WEU Events
    Pride Fest
    Putnam Museum
    Quad Cities Interfaith
    Race And Trauma
    Race And Trauma (ART)
    Race: Are We So Different?
    Racial Equality Now
    Racial Justice
    Rallies
    Rapid Response Rallies
    Recycle
    Refugee Policy
    Refugees
    Renewable Energy
    Reproductive Rights
    Repurpose
    Resist
    Resistance School
    Resources
    Restorative Justice
    Restrictions To Voting
    Reuse
    Sanctuary
    Satellite Voting
    Save The Date
    Scott County Legislative Session
    Segregation
    Sentencing Reform
    Sexual Assault
    Social Justice
    Social Security
    Solar Power
    Special Counsel Investigation
    Spread The Relief Campaign
    Staff
    Standing With The Kurds
    Staying Informed
    Streaming Meetings
    Students
    Supreme Court
    Sustainable Farming
    Taking Action
    Taking Action 101
    The Many Faces Of Hate
    Toast The Resistance
    Transgender Rights
    Understand The Need
    Unitarian Church (UUCQC)
    Updated Post
    USPS Delivery Issues
    Volunteer Now
    Vote By Mail
    Vote-by-Mail
    Voter ID Laws
    Voter Registration
    Voter Suppression
    Voting
    Voting Rights
    Voting Rights Restoration
    War On Drugs
    Water Quality
    Water Sampling
    Webinar
    Weekly Email Update
    WEU Submissions
    What Is The White Power Movement?
    What You Can Do Now
    Wind Power
    Women's Equity
    Women's Equity Forum
    Women's History
    Women's Issues
    Workers' Rights
    Working Together Fund Drive
    Y15K
    Y15K Initiative
    Year End Summary
    Year-End Summary
    Youth
    Zoom
    Zoom Help
    Zoom Security

    RSS Feed

 Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG)
 1212 W. 3rd St, Suite 3D, Davenport IA  52802    
 (563) 676-7580      
​ qcprogressiveaction@gmail.com                                                                                                                                      © 2023 Progressive Action for the Common Good