Diabetes

The editor-in-chief of Evidence-Based Diabetes Management™ introduces the special issue, Perspectives on Insulin Pricing, and shares that he has seen rationing among his own patients.

This week, the top managed care news included state and federal crackdowns on vaping that forced out the president of Juul; FDA approved a groundbreaking diabetes treatment; Medicare Advantage premiums will decline for 2020.

From the Center for Biosimilars®, a discussion on giving patients new, less expensive alternatives for managing diabetes.

From The Center for Biosimilars®, a discussion of a regulatory change coming in 2020: Insulins have always been biologics from a scientific perspective, and the products themselves will not change as a result of bringing them under regulation as biologics as a matter of law. However, labeling for these products will change.

A new concept for targeting insulin toward the liver could lead to people with diabetes needing less of it to control glycated hemoglobin (A1C) and avoid hypoglycemia.

The results of a study published last year from authors at Yale Diabetes Center suggest that rationing is more common than the healthcare system wants to admit. Senior author Kasia Lipska, MD, MHS, says the findings raise a whole new set of questions.

Aaron Kowalski, PhD, the new CEO of the JDRF, says in a discussion about insulin pricing that action is needed not only by Congress, but also by insulin makers, health plans, and the executive branch. The most important goal: ending a crosspayment scheme that many blame for potentially deadly price increases.

The diagnosis of diabetes can be hard for a teenager to accept. Add insulin affordability to the mix, and by the time a young adult learns to live with the disease, the complications have already arrived.

Novo Nordisk officials believe the new therapy will fufill an unmet need for patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity who need a GLP-1 receptor agonist but do not wish to use an injectable drug.

Intensive lifestyle intervention focusing on weight loss may reduce cardiovascular events in selected type 2 diabetes patients yet have a detrimental treatment effect in some, according to recent research.

The Harvard researchers designed this new device with consideration of the human pancreas, where islets—also known as islands of cells—receive glucose level information from the bloodstream, then adjust their insulin production.

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

This week, the top managed care news included a diabetes drug showing positive results in treating heart failure; new lipid guidelines promoting the use of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors; and a study finding doctors are more likely to prescribe opioids if they are in a hurry.

New York City health officials have declared an end to the city’s biggest measles outbreak in nearly 3 decades; Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, has proposed canceling $81 billion in existing medical debt; Vertex Pharmaceuticals is taking a chance on a start-up’s early-stage science that could potentially one day emerge as a functional cure for type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Coverage from the European Society of Cardiology 2019 Congress in Paris, France.

Coverage from the July 11, 2019, meeting of the Institute for Value-Based Medicine®, an initiative of The American Journal of Managed Care®. The meeting took place in Arlington, Virginia.

Dapagliflozin’s fast track designation follows findings from last year’s DECLARE-TIMI trial, a cardiovascular outcomes trial that showed the drug’s significant impact on delaying the loss of kidney function and reducing hospitalization risk for heart failure.

The findings suggest that a commonly used diabetes therapy, metformin, could be used to target specific proteins that trigger DNA repair.

Cancer treatment raises the risk of heart disease in childhood cancer survivors, as does diabetes and hypertension.

Studies on anticoagulants and SGLT2 inhibitors, and guidelines for dyslipidemia and more are anticipated at the meeting.

During the menopause transition, women with type 2 diabetes are more likely to have sleep disturbances due to an alteration in their hormonal response to insulin.

Despite advances in therapies for diabetes, those living with the disease are not faring better in reaching treatment targets due to lack of access to care, starting with the ability to be properly diagnosed.

As a progressive condition, diabetes presents an ongoing challenge for physicians to provide adequate control of patients’ disease, and new agents with novel mechanisms of action help reduce the burden in the management of diabetes.

This week, the top managed care news included HHS laying out a plan for importing certain prescription drugs from other countries; a potential new standard of care for chronic lymphocytic leukemia; 3 insulin makers get subpoenaed over their pricing practices.

Here are the top 5 articles for the month of July.