Efforts to lower insulin costs could stiff-arm future diabetes treatments more effective and less painful than insulin needle jabs, Johns Hopkins senior resident Michael Rose, MD, wrote for The Atlantic.
The federal government recently capped insulin prices at $35 a month for Medicare Part D, and drugmakers that increase insulin costs faster than inflation rates can be hit with tax penalties. Dr. Rose said these efforts are "welcome news" but come with a catch for the 37 million Americans with Type 2 diabetes.
"Of all diabetes medications, insulin carries the highest risk of causing dangerously low blood sugar," Dr. Rose wrote. "Although insulin is excellent at tamping down high blood sugar — the hallmark of diabetes and the driver of some of its complications — it is not as impressive as other medications at mitigating the most deadly and debilitating consequences of the disease: heart attacks, kidney disease and heart failure."
Because insulin prices and efficacy levels are decreasing, "doctors are forced daily to decide between the best medication for our patients and the medication that our patients can afford," Dr. Rose wrote.