Jan. 7, 2017

The ADA has announced their new Standards of Care for 2017 and they are taking a more global approach to A1C, CVD and hypoglycemia. When it comes to CVD, there is a bigger push to get patients to improve blood pressure levels. They recommend more widespread use of ARB’s and diuretics like HCTZ and Chlorthalidone. The SGLT-2 inhibitors also get a double plug because of their ability to lower glucose and improve cardiovascular outcomes. For A1C reduction, insulin is still the supreme drug choice and the ADA is acknowledging that even though the most efficient insulins are the best, the high cost of these insulins prevent many patients from using them, and as our good friend David Kliff from Diabetes Investor often says, “It doesn’t matter how good the drugs are if no one can afford to use them.”

To help with these high costs, Eli Lilly has stepped forward and begun working with Blink Health (https://www.blinkhealth.com/humalog) to reduce the cost of their insulins for patients who have to pay full price or have a high deductible plan. I checked the website for Humalog Kwikpen and found that the cost to the patient was about 40% less than normal. Blink Health even allows the patient to pick up their medications at a local pharmacy, and they are working with other manufacturers to reduce patient costs on multiple medications.

Dave Joffe
Editor-in-chief