Boy with diabetes steals show at Biden’s State of the Union address

WATCH LIVE: BIDEN DELIVERS FIRST STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

“Joshua is here with us tonight. Yesterday was his birthday. Happy birthday, buddy. For Joshua, and for the 200,000 other young people with Type 1 diabetes, let’s cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month so everyone can afford it. Drug companies will still do very well,” he said.

Davis has pushed companies to expand research efforts aimed at improving treatments for diseases and to lower treatment costs. He was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 11 months old, WTVR reported. His father also has diabetes. Davis is currently a seventh grader at Swift Creek Middle School in Virginia. When he was 4 years old, he advocated for the Virginia General Assembly to pass reforms aimed at making schools a better environment for children with diabetes, according to the report.

Policies aimed at lowering drug prices were among several initiatives Biden mentioned in his speech while addressing the rampant inflation plaguing the United States. In addition to calling for Congress to cap insulin prices at $35 a month, he also called for Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies. The initiatives were part of his Build Back Better agenda, which failed to clear the Senate last year.

“Insulin costs about $10 a vial to make. But drug companies charge families like Joshua and his dad up to 30 times more. I spoke with Joshua’s mom. Imagine what it’s like to look at your child who needs insulin and have no idea how you’re going to pay for it. What it does to your dignity, your ability to look your child in the eye, to be the parent you expect to be,” Biden said.