Category: Diabetes

Many diseases represent an arbitrary number

A wag once said: “There is no such thing as a healthy person, just one who has not had enough tests.” As we make every minor deviation from the average into a disease, that jest is becoming uncomfortably close to the way our current medical system beha…

Diabetic Amputations A ‘Shameful Metric’ Of Inadequate Care

In California, people who are black or Latino are more than twice as likely as whites to undergo amputations related to diabetes, a Kaiser Health News analysis found. The pattern is not unique to California.

Is Insulin’s High Cost Keeping Diabetes Patients From Taking Their Medicine?

An estimated 1.25 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes and cannot live without insulin. Sen. Kamala Harris’ claim that 1 in 4 diabetes patients cannot afford their insulin is a shockingly high number, so we decided to dig into the sparse data.

MKSAP: 62-year-old woman with hypertension

Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians. A 62-year-old woman is evaluated during a routine examination. She feels well and has no exercise limitations. Medical history is significant…

How diabetes education programs can help busy primary care physicians

Busy primary care physicians have a lot on their plates. But when it comes to helping people with diabetes learn how to improve their health, they don’t have to do it all themselves. Diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) programs, led …

The obscene price of insulin: This is what happens when health care is for profit

I recently had a patient whose blood sugar was well controlled until he lost his health insurance. He purchased his diabetes pills because they’re cheap, but he couldn’t afford the insulin. His diabetes had been well controlled. Now, almost a year late…

Watchdogs Cite Lax Medical And Mental Health Treatment Of ICE Detainees

It’s Saturday morning and the women of the Contreras family are busy in Montclair, Calif., making pupusas, tamales and tacos. They’re working to replace the income of José Contreras, who has been held since last June at Southern California’s Adelanto ICE Processing Center, a privately run immigration detention center. José’s daughter, Giselle, drives around in […]

The Blame Game: Everyone And No One Is Raising Insulin Prices

During Wednesday’s House subcommittee hearing on insulin price hikes, drug makers and benefits managers pointed fingers at each other for the last decade’s 300% price increase, frustrating congressional representatives.

Medicare Part D Spending on Insulin Increased 840 Percent Between 2007 and 2017

Medicare Part D spending on insulin increased 840 percent between 2007 and 2017, far outpacing growth in the number of beneficiaries using insulin therapy, according to a new KFF analysis. The findings come at a time when the cost of prescription drugs…

Medicare Part D Spending on Insulin Increased 840 Percent Between 2007 and 2017

Medicare Part D spending on insulin increased 840 percent between 2007 and 2017, far outpacing growth in the number of beneficiaries using insulin therapy, according to a new KFF analysis. The findings come at a time when the cost of prescription drugs…