A Sweet Life » Politics

Diabetes Drug Prescriptions in England Up By 40%

A Sweet Life Staff — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:36:59 +0000

The cost and number of drugs prescribed to treat diabetes in England has risen by more than 40 percent in the last five years, according to a new National Health Service (NHS) report released today.

According to Diabetes UK the NHS Information Centre has found that just over 35.5 million prescription items were dispensed in primary care units across England in 2009/10 at a cost of nearly £650 million. This is in comparison to 24.8 million items in 2004/5 at a cost of £458.6 million.

This large rise in diabetes drug prescriptions and costs is attributed equally to the increase in people with diabetes and the wider prescribing of newer and more expensive therapies.

Diabetes Costs Out of Control In UK, Researchers Say

A Sweet Life Staff — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:37:40 +0000

Researchers from the University of Cardiff, Wales, have found that the British National Health Service (NHS) costs for diabetes drugs, even taking into account the price of inflation, went up by 104% between 2000 – 2008, the BBC reports. According to the researchers the NHS is spending too much on diabetes drugs that account for 7% of the UK prescribing budget.
A big rise in the number of people with type 2 diabetes in recent years does not fully explain the soaring costs.

Researchers pointed to marked increases in use of newer and more expensive therapies like rosiglitazone, as well as increasing use of insulin, which have been marketed aggressively by the drug companies.

The researchers say that the NHS needs to get a hold on the situation.

JDRF Testifies Before Congress on Diabetes Research and Need for Renewal of the Special Diabetes Program

A Sweet Life Staff — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:29:27 +0000

According to a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) press release, representatives from the JDRF testified this week in two congressional hearings focused on advances in diabetes research and the importance of continued diabetes research funding through the Special Diabetes Program. On Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 9:30am, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), held a hearing on the impact and importance of diabetes research for individuals and communities across the United States. JDRF also testified on Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 10:00am on the state of diabetes research before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, in a hearing chaired by Health Subcommittee Chairman Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ). These hearings underscore the importance for Congress to renew the Special Diabetes Program, which currently funds $150 million a year in type 1 diabetes research, 35% of the federal investment in type 1 diabetes research.

Children with Diabetes in California Schools: ADA Issues Statement

A Sweet Life Staff — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 06:30:17 +0000

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) issued a statement expressing extreme disappointment in the California Court of Appeal ruling in the case of American Nurses Association et al. v. O’Connell, which prevents non-medical school personnel from volunteering to administer insulin to California schoolchildren who are not yet able to self-manage their disease.
The ADA said children with diabetes are in danger as a result of this ruling, because there are not enough nurses or other licensed health care professionals available in California’s schools to administer the insulin that young students with diabetes must have in order to be safe at school.

White House Gives $15.8 Million for Utah Diabetes Program

A Sweet Life Staff — Wed, 05 May 2010 08:32:57 +0000

The White House announced it would grant $15.8 million for a pilot program in Utah designed to help improve management of diabetes, according to a Desert News report.The grant is part of a $220 million stimulus-funded effort to expand use of electronic health records.The grant went to HealthInsight of Salt Lake City, which will work with Intermountain Healthcare to help medical providers track diabetes management and reduce hospitalizations.

Senator Asks Drug Companies to Explain High Prices

A Sweet Life Staff — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:13:45 +0000

Senator Herb Kohl (D), chair of the Special Committee on Aging, sent letters to AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Aventis asking them to explain why Americans on average pay twice as much as people in other industrialized countries for prescription drugs, according to Reuters report. The letter comes at a time when the drug companies are under attack from some Democrats involved in health care reform.
In response to the letter Eli Lilly said drug prices were lower in other countries for various reasons including currency value, market dynamics or government price controls. Pfizer said it stands behind the value of its drugs and added that the company provides free or discounted medicines to uninsured and other needy patients. Other companies said they were reviewing the letter or did not want to comment.

One in Five UK Hospital Patients Battles Diabetes

A Sweet Life Staff — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:28:24 +0000

According to a report in the British Telegraph, the first diabetes audit of National Health Service (NHS*) Hospitals in the UK has found that 20% of patients suffer from diabetes while only 4% of the total population have diabetes. This finding is twice as high as previous estimates.
Some of the patients are being treated for the direct consequences of diabetes like kidney failure, ulcers or nerve damage. Others have suffered heart attacks and strokes, the risk of which is increased fivefold by diabetes. Even when diabetics are admitted for reasons unrelated to their condition, the audit reveals they end up staying in hospital longer than expected.

*The National Health Service (NHS) is the name commonly used to refer to the three publicly funded health-care systems in Great Britain. for more about this please read here.

Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes Accounted for $218 Billion in Costs in 2007

A Sweet Life Staff — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:47:20 +0000

A new analysis funded by Novo Nordisk’s National Changing Diabetes® Program, found that the cost of diabetes and pre-diabetes reached $218 billion in 2007, with the exploding number of cases of type 2 diabetes responsible for the majority of the costs.
According to the study, diagnosed type 2 diabetes accounted for $174.4 billion of 2007 spending on diabetes and undiagnosed type 2 diabetes was responsible for $18 billion in costs. Spending on type 1 diabetes totaled $14.9 billion. Gestational diabetes was associated with $636 million in costs. Pre-diabetes, a state that affects one in four adults in the U.S. and is a precursor to diabetes, cost $25 billion. The analysis examined both direct medical costs, which accounted for $153 billion in spending, and $65 billion in indirect costs associated with absenteeism and disease-related productivity losses.

The average type 2 diabetic cost nearly $10,000 per year, while a pre-diabetic cost only $443 in additional medical costs. Many pre-diabetics can avoid type 2 diabetes with life style changes, thereby reducing much of the medical costs.

Fight Obesity by Taxing Sugary Drinks, Says Expert

A Sweet Life Staff — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:45:51 +0000

Barry Popkin, a professor of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina, and a nutrition expert who has advised the U.S. government and health policy makers around the world, says sugary drinks should be taxed. Popkin told Reuters that the epidemic of obesity and weight gain sweeping the globe could be slowed dramatically by limiting the intake of sugary drinks since, depending on the country you live in, 10 to 25 percent of all calories consumed are in sugary or caloric beverages. Reviving a taste for water could cut between 300 and 600 calories a day from the diet of an average American or Mexican, and almost as much from the intake of many Europeans.

Senate Passes Women’s Health Amendment

A Sweet Life Staff — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:30:54 +0000

The US Senate approved an amendment, put forward by Senator Barbara Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland, that would require insurance companies to offer free mammograms and other preventive services including annual diabetes screening.
The vote was 61 to 39, with three Republicans joining 56 Democrats and the two independents in favor. Reuters quotes Senator Mikulski as saying,
“This amendment makes sure that the insurance companies must cover the basic preventive care that women need at no cost.”
Furthermore, the New York Times reports Senator Mikulski said, “The insurance companies take being a woman as a pre-existing condition. We face so many issues and hurdles. We can’t get health care. We can’t get health insurance because of pre-existing conditions called a C-section.
My amendment offers key preventive services, including an annual women’s health screening that would go to a comprehensive assessment, including the dangers to women in heart disease and in diabetes.”