Don't be upset. The NHS was spot on in not issuing insulin inhalers on prescription. As has been documented on this forum elsewhere, the inhalers are frankly, ****. They are actually of no use whatsoever in treating diabetes because they simpy don't offer the flexibility or effectiveness of injected insulin.
The reason the NHS has decided not to put insulin inhalers on prescription is because they offer neither a financial nor a medical benefit over current treatment. I strongly suspect that if you were indeed paying for your medication, you would choose to stick with insulin injections on the grounds that they are cheaper and medically better.
Indeed, the NHS seems to understand people with diabetes far better than even Diabetes UK.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4919802.stm Quote:
Andrea Sutcliffe, deputy chief executive at NICE and executive lead for the appraisal, added: "Our review of the evidence indicated that inhaled insulin should not be recommended because it could not be proven to be more clinically or cost effective than existing treatments.
"The clinical experts we asked advised us that using injected insulin is not usually a concern for the majority of people with diabetes." |
Too right. Injecting insulin is like brushing your teeth. It's the day-to-day living, constantly worrying about what everything you eat and do will do to your blood sugar that's the kick in the teeth with diabetes.
As for a cure...if anything, Britain is going to be the first country to cure diabetes and will be the first country to mass distribute the cure. Because the NHS isn't wasting funds on treatments that are designed purely to line the pockets of drug companies (such as Pfizer with their inhaler), that money can be better spent on researching what's really needed in diabetes - a total cure.
Then there's the fact that any cure for diabetes will work out far cheaper for the NHS than funding insulin for patients. That's the real beauty of the state healthcare system - it totally and utterly destroys the ability of drug companies to just milk conditions instead of curing them. That's why Britain and Canada are the only countries in the world that have already half-cured diabetes in patients through islet transplants.
The insulin inhaler is nothing more than a cynical attempt to distract people with diabetes from demanding a cure. Bravo for NICE and the NHS for seeing through the corporate BS and making the best decision for people with diabetes.
