Diabetologists rise up against Aifa which is proposing "for reasons not of a clinical nature, but merely economic" the introduction of "prescription restrictions that would prevent "many frail subjects, at risk of potentially fatal hypoglycaemic crises, from being able to enjoy offered by innovative treatments". In an open letter addressed to the Minister of Health, Beatrice Lorenzin, and to the general manager of Aifa, Luke Pani, the presidents of Amd (Association of diabetes doctors) Charles Bruno Giorda, Sid (Italian Society of Diabetes) Stephen Del Prato and Diabetes Italy, Salvatore Caputo, "express strong unease and opposition to the decisions that the Agency is about to take regarding the prescribability of incretin drugs (DPP-4 inhibitors and GLP-1 agonists)." They point out that, from a "scientific point of view, the decisions taken are in stark contrast with the dictates of national and international guidelines, as well as with the philosophy of 'personalisation' of treatment that the same organizations indicate as a way to pursue". The disappointment also derives from the fact that these restrictions "are defined without having consulted the diabetes scientific societies, nor the patient associations". Therefore Amd, Sid and Diabete Italia ask for "the interruption of the process of reviewing the indications and the opening of a consultation table to contribute in a shared way to the optimization of the prescribability of therapies based on incretins". However, the letter does not indicate the prescriptive criteria that AIFA intends to adopt. According to some rumors, a range of HbA1C between 7.5 and 8.5 is fixed within which these drugs can be used (considering a value higher than 8.5 arbitrarily treatable only with insulin); moreover, in order to disburse it, the doctor must recognize at least one episode of severe hypoglycemia in the previous year, thus implying the risk of suspension of the license for one year.
May 14, 2013 – DoctorNews33
Technology and privatisation: the future of the NHS
Could we move towards a completely privatized health service in 2030? This is one of the scenarios outlined by the survey "The Future of the National Health Service: Comparing Protagonists" presented yesterday in Milan and which represents the Italian adaptation of The Economist Intelligence Unit's study "The future of healthcare in Europe". "For a responsible government of the Health System, projecting forward is a duty," he explains Federico Spandonaro, health economist at the Tor Vergata University in Rome and scientific coordinator of Ceis, who initiated the project together with Sole 24 Ore Sanità and Janssen Italia. The Report produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit has identified, on the basis of the 4 main cost drivers and 7 interconnected trends, 5 identifiable scenarios for the medium-long term: The tr
