Doctor wants BC to join the rest of Canada and fund a diabetes drug package – Coast Mountain News



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A physician specializing in diabetes care is given a mission to obtain a B.C. to cover a particular set of life-saving medications.

BEFORE CHRIST. is the only province in Canada to not cover a clbad of diabetes medications known as SGLT2 inhibitors, available since 2014, that lower blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of death from heart disease.

Dr. Tom Elliott, medical director of BC Diabetes, said the drugs would save 700 lives each year if the costs were covered.

"All these drugs are very effective drugs against diabetes," he told Black Press Media. "They lower blood sugar levels, but they do it more effectively and safely than other diabetes medications because they are not badociated with low blood sugar or low blood sugar.

"And rather than causing weight gain, they cause weight loss. Most people with diabetes are overweight, which makes them a very popular combination. "

Patients who had a heart attack or stroke and took the drug saw their all-cause mortality drop by 32% – a result Elliott called "unprecedented."

Nearly 1.5 million people in BC have diabetes or pre-diabetes. Patients who can afford SGLT2 inhibitors pay more than $ 1,000 annually in non-reimbursable expenses.

He said that he had discussed it with British Columbia. Government and PharmaCare, but he was informed that the budget left no room, although savings in fewer hospitalizations and other expenses far outweigh the cost of drugs.

"I can not rest until these drugs are covered."

The Ministry of Health has not yet provided any comment.


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