Today’s the 100th anniversary of the very first shot — that is, the first injection of insulin (or, a crude version of it, anyway). On January 11, 1922, 14 year-old Leonard Thompson became the first patient to be injected with an early version of insulin at Toronto General Hospital. Read a quick summary of the history from PBS.
Unphased: Type 1 Diabetes Left out of Vax Phases
Speaking of shots, states have begun announcing the second and third phases of vaccine distribution. People with comorbidities that increase the risk of severe illness from COVID-19 are typically in the third phase, after health care workers and nursing home residents in the first, and an array of essential workers and people age 75 and over in the second. People with diabetes have long expected to be included in this third group as one of the major groups affected by COVID-19.
It turns out that in some places vaccines are being prioritized only for people with type 2 diabetes — not type 1, gestational, or other smaller subtypes of diabetes. Meanwhile, the most recent research affirms that people with type 1 diabetes are equally if not more at risk for death and hospitalization from COVID-19 compared to people with type 2 diabetes. STAT has a good summary of the latest research, namely two recent British studies, and the effort to bring all diabetics into the fold.
Another recent study suggests that, like the pandemic as a whole in the US, the effect of COVID-19 in people with diabetes is worse for Black patients. From the lead author, Dr. Osagie Ebekozien, via Healio:
“Structural and systemic racism have worsened access to health care services, diabetes devices, insulin and food insecurity for Black and Hispanic patients with type 1 diabetes,” Ebekozien said. “These socioeconomic factors are associated with the prevalence of diabetic ketoacidosis, which is further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
To find out where your state stands on vaccine prioritization and diabetes, check out Data For Insulin’s recent post Vaccine Prioritization for Type 1 diabetics and diabetics other than Type 2 in the U.S.
Small doses
Chicago Tribune published a piece about 340B.
Copay caps are on the table in Nebraska and Kentucky.
Janelle Lutgen, whose son Jesse Lutgen died in 2018 after not being able to afford his insulin, wrote an op-ed calling on Iowa lawmakers to do better after failing to pass either an emergency insulin bill or a copay cap in the last two years.
Indiana State Sen. Ron Grooms parroted pharmaceutial industry talking points about pharmacy benefit managers in local media outlet WHAS11 while lamenting that he remembers when insulin was 99 cents a vial.
A judge in California blocked PhRMA’s lawsuit against the state’s price transparency law.
You know it’s been a wild year when the Lown Institute’s “Shkreli Awards” doesn’t even talk about insulin manufacturers.
That’s it for today’s Shot. After the results of last Tuesday’s Georgia Senate run-offs, I’m looking forward to spending time this week writing about what the recently cemented Democratic trifecta could mean for insulin and health policy overall. I would love to hear from the community about what they’re thinking. Drop me a line! >>> theshotnewsletter@gmail.com.
-Emily Pisacreta