June 22 The Week in Pharmacy: ADA Hosting 78th Scientific Sessions

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Ned Milenkovich, Host: Hello and welcome to the Pharmacy Times News Network. I’m Ned Milenkovich your host for our Pharmacy Week in Review.

The American Diabetes Association will honor 4 leaders in advancing diabetes care, education, and research as recipients of the Professional Interest Group Awards at its 78th Scientific Sessions, which takes place over the next few days at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, Pharmacy Times reported.

The recipients are Tim Wysocki, the co-director of the Center for Health Care Delivery Science and Principle Research Scientist at Nemours Children’s Health System; Edgar J. Peters, the director of the infectious diseases fellowship program and the head of the outpatient department of internal medicine at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Linda (Lynn) A. Barbour, a professor of endocrinology, metabolism, and diabetes and maternal fetal medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine; and Alessandro Doria, the associate director of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the senior investigator in the section on genetics and epidemiology and co-director of the molecular phenotyping and genotyping core at Joslin Diabetes.

The ADA expects upwards of 16,000 professionals from around the world to attend Scientific Sessions and more than 3000 original research presentations on diabetes prevention and treatment. The 5-day event will be the largest scientific meeting that focuses on diabetes research in the world.

The American Diabetes Association will also honor the winners of its National Scientific and Health Care Achievement Awards at Scientific Sessions, Contemporary Clinic reported. Several leaders will be recognized for their contribution to diabetes research, prevention, care, and treatment.

Some of the award winners will present award lectures. They include Jackie L. Boucher, a registered dietician, who will receive the Outstanding Educator in Diabetes Award. She is the president of Children's Heartlink in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Boucher’s lecture, Connectedness: How Technology and Social Networks are Advancing Diabetes Nutrition Care, will be presented on Saturday, June 23.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) convened an Insulin Access and Affordability Working Group to determine the full scope of the insulin affordability problem and provide recommendations on how to address the issue, Specialty Pharmacy Times reported. The findings were published in the June issue of Diabetes Care and presented by the ADA’s Chief Scientific, Medical, and Mission Officer William T. Cefalu, MD, in testimony before the US Senate Special Committee on Aging in May.

According to the data, the average US list price of the 4 insulin categories increased by 15% to 17% per year from 2012 to 2016. The price that pharmacies paid for insulin increased at similar rates over the same period. Additionally, between 2006 and 2013, average out-of-pocket costs per insulin user among Medicare Part D enrollees increased by 19% per year for all insulin types. The working group recommended that providers and pharmacists communicate openly with patients regarding insulin costs and suggested that providers prescribe the lowest price insulin required to effectively and safely achieve treatment goals.

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Thanks for watching our Pharmacy Week in Review. I’m Ned Milenkovich at the Pharmacy Times News Network.