The first inhaled insulin will be expensive. The manufacturers are exuberant because they stand to make billions from its sales. But it might be too expensive for some people with diabetes who want to use it.
Will your health insurance company reimburse you for inhaled insulin? If they will, you mig...
Exubera: The Cost of Inhaled Insuling
1/30/06 5:34am
David,
where you said "...good control... A1C above 7..." you surely mean "below 7" or I have misunderstood the concept for years!
Thanks for your very clear and user-friendly writing!
Peter
1/31/06 6:13am
2/ 1/06 1:51pm
I just finished a clinical trial of inhaled insulin. It is not the panacia that is hoped. The devices are large and noisy, and you need to do multiple inhalations to complete the dose. And I still needed at least two shots per day for the NPH long acting insulin that I used. I am also an asthmatic. After a year on the study, I developed a severe reaction to the insulin dust. I was sorely disappointed, but was pleased to do my duty to the diabetic community. Send any questions to me at bob@zmd.com and I will be happy to report.
Bob Marshall
David's Reply
I am surprised that since you have asthma they included you in the trial. I guess they were learning at your expense....
2/ 1/06 2:04pm
As a diabetes educator, and pharmacist I think that one of the most important aspects in using the new inhaled insulin will be the education that goes with it. First you have to teach people about insulin and make them aware of hypoglycemia if they have never been on insulin, how to diagnosis and treat it. Then you will have to educate them on how to use the inhaler, most people with asthma don't even know how to use their inhaler properly. Then you will have to deal with the unpredictability of the absorbtion of the insulin, what if you have a cold, or congestion. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered before anyone should be prescribed Exubera. Just a note: I would stay off the highways the first week it is in use. The accident rate will probably go up due to hypoglycemia reactions to the product. STeve Freed, R.Ph. Publisher www.diabetesincontrol.com
2/ 3/06 2:26pm
A huge problem is that a lot of people can't afford these things with or without insurance. Diabetes prevalence in minority populations and lower income populations continues to skyrocket, and one of the main factors of why they are affected so much more is because they don't have money to help prevent or treat the disease. I think that while this may be a great new thing for diabetics, it's MORE of a great thing for those making money off of it. I think that it would be more important to explore the routes of alternative health and do more research. Plants and herbs, like the bitter melon, may not cure diabetes or work for everyone but they can help potentitate insulin use, in other words help your insulin work better so you can take less of it. I've met people that say they have actually been able to reduce the use of expensive medications by taking bitter melon or drinking bitter melon tea. At the least we can expect far less side effects from natural treatments than from drugs whose side effects don't even show up for 7-10 years and are often worse than the ailment they are treating.
2/ 8/06 4:46am
DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHAT THEY MEAN BY ADULT? I HAVE A DAUGHTER AT 13 YEARS WITH TYPE 1 AND I AM NOT SURE IF SHE WILL BE ABLE TO USE EXUBERA BECAUSE EVERYWHERE THEY SAY IT'S FOR ADULT USE...???
David's Response
On one of Pfizer's web pages (http://www.pfizer.com/pfizer/are/news_releases/2006pr/mn_2006_0126.jsp) the company defines adult in terms of Exubera to be "greater than 18 years of age."
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