A quarter of people with diabetes do not get the kidney checks they need to detect early signs of damage, reports the BBC today following a study by Diabetes UK.
Data from the National Diabetes Audit shows that 25% of people in the UK fail to get the uniary albumin test which is one of two that detect kidney problems.
The chairity says that most patients receive the blood test to check how well their kidneys are working however they warn that the urine test is also an ‘essential part of the check up’.
Barbara Young, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: “It is really concerning that a quarter of people with diabetes are missing out on a simple check that could identify kidney problems early enough to slow their progression.’
In another move that could unwittingly help reduce the problems associated with diabetes, the Telegraph reports today of a new supermarket code of practice drawn up by the DoH that will abolish checkout ‘guilt lanes’ which display sweets and chocolates as last-minute reminders to buy, also known as ‘impulse buys’.
The paper says: ‘Public health minister Anna Soubry said retailers had a responsibility to help people eat healthily and criticised cynical shop layouts for creating problems for parents of young children.’
The Independent reports of the ‘highway robbery’ of the NHS carried out by drug companies ’ using a legal loophole to push up the price of medicines in some cases by up to 2,000% - at a cost to the taxpayer of tens of millions a year.
The paper says that the prices of at least 15 drugs have increased since being ‘flipped’ from one drug company to another. However they also report that this ‘scam’ is legal - despite the outrage it has prompted in the BMA.
Examples given by the paper include testosterone patches for hormone imbalances jumping from £26 per 300g to a £395, a medication used to treat mental-health problems jumping from £4 per five millilitres to £23 - a mark-up of 607% - and the cost of an epilepsy drug increasing by 24 times the original plrice
