Dr. Alan Marcus, a diabetes doctor in Laguna Hills, said he has followed the drug’s development for more than a decade.

In three months, he’s already prescribed the drug to about 30 patients. “They love it,” he said. “It allows them to control their glucose … in a manner that doesn’t stigmatize. If you’re out at a restaurant, the last thing you want to do is go to the bathroom for an injection or stick a needle through your clothing.”

But unless something is done to make it easier to get the drug into patients’ hands, doctors will probably be reluctant to prescribe it, Marcus said.

“It’s not an easy prescription,” he said. “They have to go through testing. Then you have to take a moment to demonstrate it. Then you have to deal with the insurance companies. Then you have to deal with the pharmacists, because most of the pharmacies don’t have it in stock. This is a process that takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of effort.”

Quoted from MannKind’s inhaled insulin drug proves hard for diabetics to get (Published on 3 June 2021 on latimes.com).

Diabetics now have the option to take their insulin without any needles by using a device called an insulin inhaler. A Tri-State doctor says it’s groundbreaking for diabetics.

Quincy Medical Group Dr. Korhan Raif says this is the first widely available inhaled insulin, which he says makes insulin use much easier. Raif says insulin helps people control their diabetes, but he also says painful injections with needles can cause patients to not take their insulin. Raif says the inhaler can limit the needle injections to one a day.

Raif says these insulin inhalers have only been out for the last two months.

Quincy 18 year old Sydney Wellman was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 12 years old.

For the past six years, she’s had to inject herself with up to five painful needles a day just to get her insulin, which she desperately needs.

“You can just break your insulin and there’s no shots or meters,” Wellman said. “You don’t have to stick something on you for a continuous amount of time.”

Wellman says she’s been on the new insulin inhaler for the past week. She says before the inhaler she would skip insulin doses because the needle would hurt.

“If I skip my insulin, then I go into DKA and end up in the hospital and I’m really sick and that’s not good,” Wellman said.

Raif says this is the first widely available insulin inhaler.

“I think it’s really going to help with compliance,” Raif said. “I think the other thing is you’re going to probably going to have a less weight gain. You’re probably going to have a little bit less hypoglycemic. People are probably going to be in the ER a little bit less.”

Raif says the cost of the inhalers are about the same as the injections. He says most insurance providers will cover the costs.

“Inhaled insulin is very rapid,” Raif said. “You inhale it and eat your meal, and by the time you’re done with your meal, the insulin is out of your system. So, it’s less likely you’re going to have a low blood sugar episode.”

Raif says the insulin inhaler is only available for people over the age of 18.

Quoted from Tri-State area doctor spreads awareness about new insulin inhaler for diabetic (Published on 3 April 2021 on wgem.com).