Documentary Review Pay or Die

Pay or Die (2023) 

Directed by Rachel Dyer, Scott Alexander Ruderman 

Written by Documentary

Starring The Public Fight Over Insulin

Release Date November 1st, Streaming on Paramount Plus November 14th 

Published October 31st, 2023 

I was going to say that other countries in the world are laughing at our healthcare system but that's not true. You see, other countries have a deep wealth of empathy for others so rather than mock us for the mess that is our healthcare system, our insurance nightmare, and the con-game that is our pharmaceutical industry, other countries feel pity for us. Friends from other countries ask me regularly to come live in their country because they know how much I pay for Asthma medication that I have to have in order to live. It's medication I could get for a fraction of the price in other countries and that I have to scrimp and save for in a country where I am one of the people who actually has affordable insurance. It's just insurance that doesn't cover the one drug I need in order to keep breathing. 

The new documentary, Pay or Die, from directors Rachel Dyer and Scott Alexander Ruderman is far more harrowing than even my modest struggle every few months to purchase asthma medication. Pay or Die is about how pharmaceutical companies are gouging people who can't live without insulin. Let me be clear, they are gouging people who can't live without insulin. The cost to produce insulin versus the price that patients must pay for insulin is a four figure profit mark up for the three companies that produce 90% of the insulin made in America. These companies sell insulin in America at 4 figure prices whereas you can buy insulin in Canada, Great Britain, or Switzerland for a between 15 and 20 bucks. 

This means that poor Americans are dying because they can't afford to purchase a drug that they need to stay alive. Pay or Die opens its story on just one of those deaths. A 24 year old man making minimum wage could not afford to buy his insulin for his Type 1 Diabetes. He was hoping that he could ration what little insulin he had until his next payday. His friend went to pick him up for work and found him passed out on the floor of his apartment. He had passed away because he'd not been able to afford more insulin and his payday did not arrive in time. 

If you don't know about Type 1 Diabetes, the fact is, you can't simply go a few days without insulin. It's deadly to not have insulin on hand. But, this young man could not afford it and insurance and an apartment and a vehicle so he was trying to get through from one paycheck to the next. The bill for his monthly insulin was in the range of $1500 dollars per month. This is because the price of Insulin, in just the last 5 years has gone up over 600%. The three companies that produce 96% of all of the insulin in America have profits in the billions and insulin is a top profit driver for those companies. 

Read my full length review at Longevity.Media