Insulin pen helps diabetes sufferers

People with diabetes who need to switch from oral medications to insulin could reduce their annual health-care costs by up to $17,000 by using an insulin pen instead of a syringe to deliver their daily doses of medication.

A study conducted by an Ohio State University researcher found that using an insulin pen may result in fewer trips to emergency departments and doctors' offices, resulting in substantial savings to those with diabetes and their insurers.

Rajesh Balkrishnan, a pharmacy professor at Ohio State, and his colleagues studied 1,300 diabetic patients enrolled in a Medicaid program in North Carolina who had failed treatment with oral medications and were placed on insulin injections.

Of the 1,300 patients in the study, 1,162 patients started insulin with a syringe and 168 used either the NovoPen or FlexPen, a pen-like electronic device containing a premeasured dose of medication that the patient injects.