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Pens allow the recording after use of the units taken and how long ago the injection was done. They make the injection device easier to hold and use and remove the need to inject air, draw up insulin into a syringe, then remove it from the phial. They also mask, to some extent for some people, that it is an injection, and most importantly, and the main reason for the introduction of them, they allow for repeatable, consistently calibrated doses for everyone.
The mobile substitutes strips for a continuous cartridge (but certain meters integrate the meter into the pot, so it's not a vast difference), however the mechanism of use is exactly the same. It still requires a finger prick and the positioning of blood on a receptacle.
That's why I disagree with you, and why I don't think that paying 3x the price for the testing media warrants it.
And this is why I come back to the point. Doing whatever anyone wants for everyone is not affordable with the current scheme. Yes, essential care needs to be covered. In certain cases (long term chronic conditions, cancer, HIV being the most obvious) lifetime coverage needs to be included. And none of these should cost the end user, other than what they already pay in taxes. The luxury of choice has to be reduced to make this worth while. At the moment, due to this choice, there is no pressure to reduce prices by the bigger manufacturers.
If we want to get things like the libre on prescription, it has to be bought in bulk and provide clear and identifiable benefits for the majority of the population. I think it would do and it wouldn't take Abbott a lot of time to work with the clinics to trial this with the patients who need it most to prove that. Once it was available, it should be available to everyone and not constrained by namby pambying CCGs. But we need to put together a good case for it. So far we haven't.
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