this article shocked me. Still trying to put words on why I'm having such a strong reaction. Of course, MS is not the only disease whose treatment is super expensive.
Diabetes costs are probably much higher because more people have it. At the same time, so much more can be done to help prevent it (diet,...).
Something has to be done to help people take better care of themselves and curve those costs.
I think renal failure is higher cost, but that's considering more than just medications. That something to be done is very individual, and so so many do not want better. Although I don't understand it, I'm not bashing because I believe the source of the absence of health seeking behaviors in western societies has many layers. It's cool to say, yeah nah, it's their choice to not take care of themselves; but now (actually for a decade plus) lifestyle diseases are pediatric as well, which use to floor me because it was impossible 🙃 (and children have no choice). Something, yes, but what and how 🤔
If prevention and "choices" in relation to diabetes are being talked about then it is REALLY REALLY important to distinguish between Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes . People with T1D have an auto-immune disease so in that respect they are no different to PwMS - it's just a different part of the body which is being destroyed by the immune system and neither they nor us PwMS chose to have the disease we have been afflicted with. It is also extremely distressing for PwT1D to be lumped in with the T2D mob as if they had made choices which caused their disease, and they suffer a lot of stigma from ignorant people who treat them as if it is their own fault they have diabetes.
T2D on the other hand is a different story - the evidence is pretty clear that it is a lifestyle disease, and at 11% of the general population being afflicted the USA has one of the highest rates in the world. Unfortunately as the bad elements of the "standard Western diet" make even deeper inroads in less developed countries they too are suffering from increasing rates of T2D - the Golden Arches and their ilk are not particularly golden when it comes to eating well, ditto for the brown and other coloured fizzy drinks which almost single-handedly keep the sugar industry alive. The current generation of children is expected to be one of the first in decades to actually have a shorter lifespan expectation than their parents.
endocrinenews.endocrine.org...
Another contributor to the massive cost of health care and medications in the USA is the way the entire health and health insurance systems there are structured, with so much of it based around private enterprise and profit motives. In a country as wealthy as the USA people should not be dying because they cannot afford such a basic drug as insulin.
mayoclinicproceedings.org/a...
Without Big Pharma we would not have the essential drugs we do today, but the USA is a hot-bed of price gouging, and until "someone" has the courage to re-invent the "health system wheel" then health costs will just continue to spiral every upwards. It's not just the USA where this is a problem, but the USA seems to be one of the worst.
I agree the price of medication in the states is expensive. I live in the state of Georgia, my husband is a Type 2 diabetic, and his insulin did go down. The price he pays for insulin is $45 per month so that is a decent price monthly. Now I have PPMS and every 6 months I take the Ocrevus infusion and that's $80,000. If my husband's BCBS insurance didn't pay for it, I wouldn't do the infusions.
I know it's super pricey. My Aubagio is over $8,000 for 30 pills. If it wasn't for help from the manufacturer, I don't know what I'd do.
that is insane... mostly because the prices don't need to be as high. ah, greed.
It seems that the ‘healthcare’ industry is more for solving all of what ails us with medication, and we are complicit in that we believe there’s a pill for that. That’s why they can charge whatever they want.
so agreed. there is so much to be done before medication and medical care should get engaged. good diet, exercise, would prevent a lot of diabetes, high blood pressure, back pain....
Talking with Your Doctor - What are Your Strategies?
She heard me when I was talking lol
