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uraniumEmpire t1_j1fvlea wrote

Reply to comment by 10113r114m4 in Despite improvements in insulin formulations and delivery over the last 30 years, diabetes control has not improved among US adults, and disparities for minority and uninsured adults worsens by Ordinarymangodoctor

Gonna be a lot harder to sell premium insulin if you give your patients a single-payment pancreas.

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KevlarUnicorn t1_j1glzod wrote

Don't worry, I'm sure our healthcare system would just install the pancreas, and you'd pay a monthly fee to keep using it. I guarantee this has come up as an option in at least one board meeting.

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Scary-Owl2365 t1_j1hc0wi wrote

A subscription service for your pancreas. I wouldn't even be surprised at this point.

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DarkestDusk t1_j1g64ue wrote

Which is literally the only reason that the medical industry does not fund the research and pay for the proponents necessary to make such things a possibility. The Love Of Money Is The Root of All Kinds of Evil.

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FourDimensionalTaco t1_j1hrvf7 wrote

No. Diabetes is just extremely complicated to fix. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease and requires fixing the immune response (which is several Nobel prizes away) and restoring the destroyed beta cells. Type 2 diabetes is more of an umbrella term for various types of insulin resistance and associated metabolic problems, and thus also extremely complex. A cure for either type would be immediately be sought after by health care insurance companies, since for them, this would be far more economical than the ongoing expenses for insulin and anticipated diabetic medication.

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DarkestDusk t1_j1hvvpv wrote

>A cure for either type would be immediately be sought after by health care insurance companies, since for them, this would be far more economical than the ongoing expenses for insulin and anticipated diabetic medication.

Which do you think a business would rather have? A subscription model of making money, or a One Time Payment? As someone who went and studied business at University, I know they almost ALL would prefer subscription, unless the One Time Payment Option was enough to keep them afloat by itself, because as soon as everyone has made their One Time Payment, they no longer require your services, and will no longer have a need to pay for it.

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FourDimensionalTaco t1_j1jhhii wrote

All it takes is for one business to come up with a cure to disrupt the market. If there's a cure, why opt for the ongoing treatment? Such a company will sell the cure for a very high price. Insurers still go for that cure. Maybe not in all cases, but at least the more problematic patients will get it. That company then has a big ace up their sleeve with that cure, and of course patents the hell out of it. Other companies try to come up with their cures so they get picked by insurers. In the meantime, the first company has its monopoly. Once that has run its course, and competitors are coming up with their cures, the first company drops their price massively to undercut the competition.

Diabetes treatment is very expensive for health insurance providers. A cure would be cheaper for them even if it costs 500k once.

And yes, cures are being made for diseases. See this for example. Another example is the ongoing research into growing islets out of stem cells and transplanting said islets. See the Vertex VX-880 trial for example.

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DarkestDusk t1_j1jzdm9 wrote

Thank you for your dissertation, and I will agree it has Some Merit, though I can only speculate when I do not have all the information available to determine whether or not it is all truth. Have an amazing Day, and Merry Christmas Four Dimensional Taco.

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