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Federal worker with diabetes says she can’t afford to pay for insulin during shutdown

A Department of Interior employee says she can’t afford the co-pay for insulin to treat her Type 1 diabetes because of the partial government shutdown.

Mallory Lorge told NBC News that she has been forced to ration her insulin after she missed a paycheck because of the shutdown.

{mosads}Lorge said she was forced to ignore her blood sugar, which rose to a record high last week, because she can’t afford to go to a hospital.

“When it gets that high you can go into diabetic ketoacidosis, you can go into a coma,” she said. “I can’t afford to go to the [emergency room]. I can’t afford anything. I just went to bed and hoped I’d wake up.”