2019-05-01_Diabetes_Self-Management

WHEN WILL YOUR INSULIN BE

GENERIC?

By Kristina Naseman, PharmD, MPH, MLDE, BCACP, CDE,

and Laura Hieronymus, DNP, MSEd, RN, MLDE, BC-ADM, CDE, FAADE

A

mericans are concerned about the rising cost of

prescription medications. This is especially true

when you have diabetes. In fact, individuals with diabetes

have 2.3 times higher health care costs than those without

diabetes. Additionally, one in seven health care dollars

is spent on diabetes and its complications. Health care

professionals and people with diabetes know that a large

portion of the costs are medications for diabetes.

While many other medications have less-expensive

generic versions, when you have diabetes you may won-

der when generic insulin will be available. The answer is

complicated but offers some hope for reducing the cost

of insulin.

Definitions

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is respon-

sible for regulating food, medications, medical devices,

cosmetics and tobacco products. Over time, there have

been laws that have changed what the FDA does and how

it does it. One of those laws was the Biologics Price Com- Shu

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32 May/June 2019