This is another researcher looking for
publicity and her 15 minutes of fame. Kasia J. Lipska, MD, an
endocrinologist from the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven,
Connecticut, will be presenting this research as a poster at the
meeting of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 2014 Scientific
Sessions in San Francisco.
“Dr. Lipska and colleagues
conducted a retrospective analysis of figures from the Optum Labs
Data Warehouse, an administrative claims database of privately
insured enrollees from throughout the United States. Adults aged 18
years or older with type 2 diabetes and at least 2 years of
continuous plan enrollment between January 2000 and September 2010
were included. There were 123,486 enrollees who filled at least 1
prescription for insulin, with the proportion doing so rising from
9.7% in 2000 to 15.1% in 2010.”
“Dr. Lipska cautioned these
findings from private health insurance records may not reflect
publicly insured populations. For example, analog-insulin use is
lower in the Veterans' Administration system, which has a national
formulary scheme.”
“The data also couldn't capture
less severe hypoglycemia that did not result in an
emergency-department visit or hospital admission, she noted.”
"We are absolutely not
suggesting that people stop using insulin analogs. But we hope these
findings provoke a discussion about the value of healthcare for the
overall population of type 2 diabetes patients."
I am very happy that there were
comments and most agreed with my feelings. This is not a study, but
an observational analysis of very diverse data and many missing
pieces of information. And with funds from the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services and the National Institutes of
Health, I suspect some
false motives in the method of research.
Is the CMS trying to find ways to deny
people on Medicare and Medicaid the use of certain insulins? I
suspect this! I just hope I am wrong.
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