PROFESSIONAL SUPPLIES
Professionals recommend a cheaper form of insulin to treat diabetes, reports Kate Ashley.
Human alternatives to synthetic insulin are cheaper and just as ef- fective, research published in the BMJ open suggests. The price dif- ference means that the NHS may have spent £625m unnecessar- ily on synthetic insulin in the past decade.
Human alternatives are older types of insulin, but have been recommended in guidelines for use. Newer types of insulin may have some advantages for certain patients, such as reducing weight gain and reducing the risk of low blood sugar, but these benefits are not considered to be worth the far greater expense.
A spokesperson for the Depart- ment of Health said: “NICE guid- ance recommends that human in- sulin is the preferred option when insulin
therapy Type 2 diabetes. is necessary in
“The National Prescribing Centre advises that newer synthetic in- sulins have a role in treating some patients, but people with glycae- mic control problems should be properly assessed for underlying causes before these newer, more expensive insulins are considered.”
The research, published in the journal BMJ Open, analysed publicly available data from four UK prescription
pricing agen-
cies from 2000-2009. The NHS spent £2,732 million on insulin in
that time, and while the cost of synthetic insulin rose to 85% of this total, human alternatives fell to just 14%. The report states: “We know that the rise of insulin analogues has had a substantial financial impact on the NHS, yet over the same period there has been no observable clinical ben- efit to justify that investment.
“It is likely that there was and is considerable scope for financial savings. Most worryingly, the clin- ical role and safety of insulin for
use in people with type 2 diabetes is being questioned.”
The number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK has risen to 2.8 million, with 90% having type 2, which does not require in- sulin treatment immediately.
A diabetes charity said patients should have a choice of what in- sulin to use.
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