Prognosis
Harvard Study Finds Older Insulins Are Safe as Well as Cheaper
- Patients don’t need drugs like Lantus, researchers conclude
- Fewer Medicare patients hit donut hole using older insulins
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With little fanfare, a private Medicare delivery system owned by insurer Anthem Inc. moved thousands of elderly patients with diabetes from costly new insulin drugs such as Sanofi’s Lantus to older and cheaper insulin products.
The health system saved millions. But many of the patients ended up better off financially, too: Fewer of them hit the Medicare coverage gap, where patients pay a significant portion of the costs. While blood sugar increased slightly on average, there was no rise in emergency-room visits or hospitalizations from dangerously low or high blood sugar.