Only today I found 4 articles talking about the rising cost of type 2 diabetes drug in the United States, largely due to the increased use of newer and costlier medications.
How are you dealing with this price increase?
Researched questioned whether the newer drugs’ benefits justify the increase in costs.
What do you think?
Diabetes drug Cost Soar
Chicago Sun-Times - United States
Americans with diabetes nearly doubled their spending on drugs for the disease in just six years, as more people are diagnosed and get newer, more expensive … Read the whole article
Researchers: Cost of diabetes care on rise
Boston Globe - United States
NEW YORK - Diabetes drug costs in the United States have almost doubled in six years to $12.5 billion as more people are diagnosed and patients receive … Read the whole article
Spending on Diabetes Drugs on the Rise
WebMD - USA
By Salynn Boyles Oct. 27, 2008 – Expenditures for prescription diabetes drugs nearly doubled over a six-year period, largely due to the increased use of … Read the whole article
Diabetes drug costs soaring, top $12B last year guardian.co.uk - UK
AP foreign CHICAGO (AP) - Americans with diabetes have nearly doubled their spending on drugs for the disease in just six years. The bill last year climbed … Read the whole article
I don’t pay much for my drugs, I use the VA and they are very good about not charging me an arm and a leg. I have read the articles and it is terrible how the new drugs for anything are so high. I only hope that this mess with the economy gets better in the next few months, food, and other essentials are getting to be harder and harder to afford.
one problem w/ the Big D (one of many) is that what works for you doesn’t always work for me. and what works for me today may not work for me tomorrow. it is quite annoying. I’m up to 3 nooo 4 perscriptions and red ginseng, red win , diet and exercise to control my sugars. it is a constant game of adapting to try and keep my sugars under control but my health in the long run (i’m 37) makes it worth it. been lucky so far and a lot of my stuff is available generic and i’ve got decent health insurance.
It is worth the money if it works for you. If an older medication works better then stay with it, if a newer one works then spend the extra money. Think about what your health is worth.
I remeber a great diabetologist from Los Angles presented a nice lecture in Pan Arab conference in Cairo about diabetes,treating two zone areas,she treats the rich,and has a clinic for ordinary people who cannot afford new expensive generation.She gave doctors especially the GPs in Arab world what to prescribe,and what medications to combine together.
These headlines are all based on the same original research/review. There are several separate issues to consider, including (1) the rise in the number of people diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes (which may be related to the increasingly lower blood glucose numbers at which “Type 2 diabetes” is diagnosed); (2) changes in standards of care such that pharmaceutical therapy is started immediately in T2 patients, rather than giving them an initial trial by lifestyle management; (3) increase in the number of lab tests used to diagnose diabetes and comorbid conditions, and increase in the frequency at which those tests are conducted; (4) new classes of diabetes-related pharmaceuticals, and higher costs of production for the newer drugs; (5) increased emphasis on self-monitoring and on tight control, including the increased use of insulin pumps over MDI and the introduction of CGMs into the diabetes-care arena. This is not an exhaustive list.
, diet and exercise to control my sugars. it is a constant game of adapting to try and keep my sugars under control but my health in the long run (i’m 37) makes it worth it. been lucky so far and a lot of my stuff is available generic and i’ve got decent health insurance.