Reply #33: Yes and no: Type I Diabetic's perspective

[DrBB]

This is a little oblique to the topic, but what they hey.

So I'm an insulin-dependent (Type I) diabetic. Obviously I'd be dead without the stuff, and it's not a pleasant way to go. That said, though...

Next time you're at the pharmacy counter at your local CVS or whatever, take a look around. You'll find that you are surrounded by displays of diabetic care stuff--myriad blood sugar testers, glucose tablets, what-have-you. It's in many ways a big-Pharma wetdream of a disease. All these consumables--several different kinds of insulin itself, plus lots of options for syringes ("Maximum injection comfort!") and all those test-strips and whatnot, all of which have to be used up and resupplied on a regular basis. The fact that this stuff constitutes a significant portion of the pharmaceutical revenue stream is reflected in how prominently it gets displayed all around the cash register at most pharmacies I've ever been in.

So... imagine someone finds a real cure. Stem cell therapy, whatever. One company does pretty well out of it. Pretty well. But maybe not all that well. How much for a single treatment (or series of treatments) that cures the disease and the patient never returns, versus a whole lifetime's worth of buying all that other stuff? Which do you suppose is more lucrative?

None of this occured to me before, and then I was talking to a friend's wife who is a hospital RN, and out of the blue she just flatly said "Oh, they don't want to cure what you've got. They've absolutely no incentive."

So, I dunno. Not a theory I'm real comfortable with. But on the other hand, I don't expect to see a cure anytime soon either.