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Good evening
I have your email address because you have been in
touch with our organisation, Reality Check, perhaps
to place an order for our Starter Kit for newly-
diagnosed adults with Type 1 diabetes recently.
We have a very strict spam policy, so I will
not be using your email to contact you often, but I
did want to make sure you had heard the exciting
news today about Lantus and Levemir that many of
our members have been anticipating for many years.
I hope you don't mind me forwarding to you
the note that I have just put out to our members for
your information.
Please don't hesitate to reply and pass to me any
feedback at any time. I hope the following is
helpful.
Yours sincerely, Kate Gilbert
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Lantus and Levemir subsidised! |
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The government announced today that not-
so-new-anymore insulins Lantus and Levemir will be
subsidised from 1st October 2006.
Both insulins
will be available the same way that other insulins and
medicines are obtained, under the Pharmaceutical
Benefits Scheme, at a cost of $29.50 per prescription
(approx 6 months' supply) or $4.70 if you have a
Health Care Card.
LANTUS is a flat profile or peakless insulin,
which
means its action doesn't change over time after it is
inhected like all other insulins do. It lasts for
approximately 24 hours so is used as a basal or
background insulin, most commonly injected once per
day, though sometimes twice. It is made by a
French company called Sanofi-Aventis.
LEVEMIR is also a long-acting insulin - it has
a reduced peak compared to other insulins available
up until now, and lasts for approximately 20 hours.
It is made by a Danish company Novo Nordisk who
currently make insulins such as NovoRapid and
Protaphane.
(Note: The PBS lisiting of
Levemir is restricted to people with Type 1 diabetes
only. Lantus is unrestricted and will be available to
people with any type of diabetes. That's the only
catch though!)
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How do I get it? |
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Your doctor will be able to write you a PBS
prescription for Lantus or Levemir from 1st October.
That's a Sunday though, so best make an
appointment for Monday, 2nd!
Then just wander down to your local pharmacist -
don't forget they may well have to order it in like any
other insulin.
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and the official words... |
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The full announcement from the Health
Minister Tony Abbott's office, today 24th October,
reads as follows:
24 August 2006
ABB121/06
LantusŪ (insulin glargine) and LevemirŪ (insulin
detemir), will be available on the Pharmaceutical
Benefits Scheme (PBS) from 1 October 2006 for the
treatment of patients with diabetes.
Diabetes is a common disease characterised by high
blood sugar levels as a consequence of a lack of the
hormone insulin. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the
body stops producing the hormone insulin. Type 2
diabetes occurs when the body does not produce
enough insulin and does not respond to it
properly.
LantusŪ and LevemirŪ will be used to maintain a
basic insulin level and are expected to reduce the
incidence of episodes of low blood-sugar levels
(“hypos”) compared with current therapy. Both drugs
have been recommended for type 1 diabetes.
LantusŪ
has also been recommended for type 2
diabetes.
Patients with type 1 diabetes require insulin
injections. Type 2 patients may reach a situation
where they need insulin injections in addition to
other medications. Different insulin preparations
act over different lengths of time. While treatments
aim to bring blood sugar close to
naturally-occurring levels, problems can lead to
blood-sugar levels being too high (hyperglycaemia)
or too low (hypoglycaemia).
It is estimated that around 110,000 people will
begin treatment with LantusŪ or LevemirŪ in the
first full year of listing for the treatment of type
1 and type 2 diabetes.
From: www.health.gov.au
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Questions? Excited? |
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Of course, please contact your GP or
endocrinologst if you have questions about whether
Lantus or Levemir are suitable for you.
Can't contain your excitement? Need to
share your joy / relief / happiness with the world? A
brilliant plan for how to spend your formerly Lantus-
allocated cash?
All of a sudden interested in
what this Lantus and Levemir are, now that they're
not insanely expensive??
There's much chat on the Reality Check website
about it all of course.
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That's all from RCHQ - Coming to you direct from
the Australian Diabetes conference on the Gold
Coast. Do spread the word!
Over and out.
Cheers! [Pop!]
Kate Gilbert
Founder & Volunteer
REALITY CHECK
young adults with diabetes Inc.
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