Ok, I’m usually not one to talk about conspiracies but something I heard today really disturbed me. A long time friend of mine has an uncle who has lead a diabetes research team since 1974. He is now fully convinced there is a conspiracy to stop any cure for diabetes. I do wonder if they found a cure how much money companies would lose and how many jobs would be gone. Not really sure why im posting this but maybe someone has some promising news.
Does he have a citation? I think the only hard part about a cure would be pricing it but I think that it would still be a tremendous cash cow?
“Cures” are incredibly difficult. You might read “The Emperor of All Maladies” which goes in some detail about all of the different approaches to curing cancer and all of the incredible problems along the way.
Maurie
Considering that worldwide diabetes incidence has risen 30% from 2010 to 2011 (according to a Medscape article I saw yesterday), the drug companies are in no danger of losing their clientele even if a cure for all types were found tomorrow. They could start handing out this miracle and there would still be thousands of millions of people being diagnosed daily. So they're really in very little danger of losing their profits, I'm sorry to say.
Whether there’s a conspiracy, who knows? But, there is a lot more money to be made selling supplies, pills & insulin, not to mention all the other businesses that sell diabetes stuff. Just think of the profit from test strips alone. Millions of diabetics using them daily at $1 per strip. No cure will come close to that cash cow. Sadly, we’re a multi billionaire dollar industry.
I’ve said this before, no disease has been cured. There may be prevention, effective treatment, but no cures.
I don’t know if they will ever be able to cure any disease but as far as diabetes goes I will guarantee there will be a non invasive glucose meter available in the next few years. There are a few companies getting real close so all those stick manufacturers will be job hunting like the rest of the population. Technology Prevails! I also believe we will eventually see a glucose responsive insulin. I really can’t imagine no more breakthroughs ever and that the current treatment will remain indefinitely. I still refuse to give up hope for Dr F. If you think about it’s very unlikely they would be able to completely reverse diabetes in a one shot deal so whatever future treatment is found it will likely be a constant expense for us. So many researchers are still focused on different forms of transplantation which in my mind would be the most expensive form of treatment I could think of and chances are the cells would probably work for a couple of years at best. If your talking $150K transplant every few years how would they expect people to pay for that? Which brings me back to why waste time on something you can’t market due to cost? Its like Duh…
Excellent points, Gary. I had such high hopes for Smart Insulin. Still have high hopes for Dr. Faustman. She’s my hero.
Interesting thought. Just think what would be the loss in BG test strips! Humalog has about run out its patent, so I bet somethin new is about to come out, with a patent and price fixing!
Tha’s a very clever observation!
I have promise in none evasive glucose monitoring like http://www.echotx.com/
I also have high hopes for Dr. F. Of course you read blogs like this one below and it makes me wonder once again.
http://cureresearch4type1diabetes.blogspot.com/2011/08/dr-faustmans-phase-i-results.html
But Humalog or its generic equivalent isn’t going to disappear from the market. The continued development of fancy insulins and tools have been a blessing for most of us and I wouldn’t complain about them.
Maurie
People always seemed a bit shocked when I point out that no disease has ever been cured. They try to come up with one and the closest most people can come is polio - which isn’t cured, only prevented via immunization.
hasn’t lente and ultra lente disappered from the market??? then same with beef pork insulins??
The lente sisters are gone, yep. No beef or pork insulin any more either in the US, though it’s available in other countries.
We as a large group of likeminded humans,can interfere with the diabetes assocs worldwide,its a giant corporation that does nothing but use diabetes as a business.im still testing and shooting crappy new insulin.and the diabetic assocs still just give old info papers and a pat on the back when you leave.but ive been in the trenches with companies before about pricing there equipment and have found that it takes pennies to make everything they sell,wouldnt surprise me in the slightest.
but ive been in the trenches with companies before about pricing there equipment and have found that it takes pennies to make everything they sell,wouldnt surprise me in the slightest.
Evidence please - key word everything.
Maurie
I don’t know, but I want to be a lab mouse because they ALWAYS seem to have a cure for their diabetes!
That’s because Lente and Ultra lente sucked- even worse than NPH.
Why did they keep R and NPH-? well there is still money to be made and although I think drug companies overreaching goal and concern is profit I do not believe they are totally without a heart and doubt they would rather see people die than be unable to wring some profit out of them because they are poor and/or have no insurance.
The major costs of medicines and supplies have to do with other costs besides the cost of production and in most cases, these products all have high margins. The costs (and risks) involved with R&D and getting approval for these products is often rolled into the product price. When medications move to generic status, their price often falls by a factor of ten or more (wiki notes that the cost of a dose of Plavix is 3 cents in India). It is really hard to argue that the profits of these medical companies is about as attractive as your can get without being outright illegal.
Cancers(leukemia) are not cured they can go into remission but are never really cured.