This article originally posted 05 July, 2009 and appeared in
What to tell your patients when they ask about Lantus and Cancer
David Joffe,BSPharm, CDE, FACA
It has been over a week since Diabetologia released a meta-analysis of studies that possibly indicated that Lantus use is associatedwith cancer. During this time the lay press, television and cable news andhealth channels have pasted this all over the globe and many patients arecalling your offices to see what they should do.
We have contacted thought leaders from around North America and found out what they are telling their patients...
"The [study] title may lead people to conclusions that are still very much in doubt. We have become a society where formerly respected publications are now all headlines with little to backup the outlandish claims..." Full Story
"Just when those of us in the diabetes community have been riding a wave of reassurance from very recent studies showing favorable rosiglitazone safety results, comes word of studies published in the current issue of Diabetalogia raising the question as to whether insulin glargine (Lantus) may be associated with an increased risk of cancer. The phones are already ringing off the hook as concerned glargine-using patients call to find out what they are to do..." Full Story
...who has been in private practice for over 20 years, is telling his patients, "When the articles came out, the American Diabetes Association commented..." Full Story
Both Steve Freed, our publisher, and I see patients in primary care physician offices almost every day and we are in agreement with all of the comments above, and are telling the clinicians and their patients to keep doing what they have been until we know more.
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