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Why Is There No Generic Insulin? Historical Origins of a Modern Problem

Jeremy A. Greene, M.D., Ph.D.,
and Kevin R. Riggs, M.D., M.P.H.

Six million U.S. patients with diabetes take insulin, which was discovered in 1921 — yet is available only in brand-name forms. The reasons why an agent discovered almost 100 years ago is still unavailable as a low-priced generic have implications for policy and practice.

Funding and Disclosures

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.

Author Affiliations

From the Division of General Internal Medicine (J.A.G., K.R.R.), the Department of the History of Medicine (J.A.G.), and the Berman Institute of Bioethics (K.R.R.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.

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