U.S. insulin costs per patient nearly doubled from 2012 to 2016, study finds
BY REUTERS: The cost of insulin for treating Type 1 diabetes in the United States nearly doubled over a recent five-year period, underscoring a national outcry over rising drug prices, according to a new analysis.A patient with Type 1 diabetes incurred annual insulin costs of $5,705, on average, in 2016. The average cost was roughly half that, at $2,864 per patient, in 2012, according to a report released on Tuesday by the nonprofit Health Care Cost Institute. (read more)
Common vaccine may protect children from developing type 1 diabetes
BY CHELSEA WHYTE: Rotavirus vaccine may protect children from developing type 1 diabetes.
In Australia, the vaccine for rotavirus – the most common cause of severe diarrhoea in young children – was added to routine early-childhood immunisations in 2007.
Kirsten Perrett at the University of Melbourne in Australia and her colleagues compared the rates of diabetes in the 8 years before and after the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine. They found a 14 per cent drop in type 1 diabetes in children age 0 to 4, but no change in children 5 to 14 years old. (read more)
Catherines Plus Sizes raises over $132K in support of the American Diabetes Association
BY PRNewswire: Catherines Plus Sizes is thrilled to announce that the Brand has raised over $132K in support of the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
Since 2009, Catherines has raised more than $1.4M to support the ADA’s mission to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all those affected by diabetes.
“We are thankful to Catherines for their generosity by raising funds that support the ADA as we fight to bend the curve on diabetes,” said Chief Executive Officer of the ADA Tracey D. Brown. “Currently, nearly half of American adults have diabetes or prediabetes. We must do more to increase awareness and magnify the urgency around this devastating disease.” (read more)
Secretive ‘rebate trap’ keeps generic drugs for diabetes and other ills out of reach
BY JAY HANCOCK and SYDNEY LUPKIN: Lisa Crook was lucky. She saved $800 last year after her insurance company started covering a new, less expensive insulin called Basaglar that was virtually identical to the brand she had used for years.
The list price for Lantus, a long-acting insulin made by Sanofi that she injected once a day, had nearly quadrupled over a decade.
With Basaglar, “I’ve never had my insulin cost drop so significantly,” said Crook, a legal assistant in Dallas who has Type 1 diabetes.
But many people with diabetes can’t get the deal Crook got. In a practice that policy experts say smothers competition and keeps prices high, drug companies routinely make hidden pacts with middlemen that effectively block patients from getting cheaper generic medicines. (read more)
New risk score far more effective for diabetes diagnosis
BY UNIVERSITY OF EXETER: A new way of screening babies and adults for future risk of type 1 diabetes will be much more effective at identifying the condition than current methods, new research has concluded.
Researchers at the University of Exeter and the Pacific Northwest Research Institute in Seattle have developed a new risk score which takes into account detailed genetic information known to increase the chances of type 1 diabetes. This could be used to help identity babies at highest risk of developing the condition in the future. The score may also be used at the time of diabetes diagnosis to help decide if someone has type 1 or type 2 diabetes, which need very different treatments. (read more)
