Some 70,000 people with diabetes are at risk of losing their current medication or having to pay extra if the permitted maximum price of the drug is exceeded. Pharmacists and patient associations are very concerned.
Save on medicines
Minister Ernst Kuipers of Public Health must save no less than 140 million euros on medicines. To meet this requirement, he is working on new maximum cost estimates for groups of medicines. This can have a major impact on the tens of thousands of diabetes patients, says the Diabetes Association of the Netherlands (DVN).
Not profitable
When the price has to come down, the insulin for pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is no longer profitable. “We understand that the minister wants to lower the price of medicines, but that should not be at the expense of the patient,” policy officer Heleen Knottnerus of DVN told the newspaper. AD†
More expensive price
In total, 70,000 diabetic patients use Novo Nordisk’s insulin, including many people with type 1 diabetes. Since this drug is patented, the price is somewhat higher. But it’s not about crazy amounts. “We calculate a price for this drug from 1998, without an inflation adjustment. And at the launch, we already reduced the price by 40% on request,” explains Sanne Groenemeijer, director of Novo Nordisk in the Netherlands.
Diabetes patients the victims
If Minister Kuiper continues the savings and Novo Nordisk does not lower the price, the diabetes patients will be the victims. They have to pay the bill. If they want to keep their current medicine, they will have to pay €250 per year themselves. That is in addition to their own risk. And that while energy and groceries are already becoming more expensive. “That is certainly a problem for people with a low income,” says Knottnerus.
Switching causes problems
If patients do not want to pay these costs themselves, they have to switch to a different insulin. “That’s easy to say, but it always leads to problems. Diabetes is a nasty disease and insulin is vital.” It can take months before your body is properly adjusted to other medicines.
Sun 250,000 people in the Netherlands do not know that they have diabetes. Doctor Rutger explains when you are more likely to get diabetes and how you can prevent diabetes:
Source: AD