An article in the New York Times discusses something near and not-particularly-dear to our hearts — Celiac Disease:
Seven years after receiving his diagnosis, Mr. Oram, who is married and has one daughter, is symptom-free, but the cost of staying that way is high. That’s because the treatment for celiac does not come in the form of a pill that will be reimbursed or subsidized by an insurer. The treatment is to avoid eating products containing gluten. And gluten-free versions of products like bread, pizza and crackers are nearly three times as expensive as regular products, according to a study conducted by the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University.
Unfortunately for celiac patients, the extra cost of a special diet is not reimbursed by health care plans. Nor do most policies pay for trips to a dietitian to receive nutritional guidance.
In Britain, by contrast, patients found to have celiac disease are prescribed gluten-free products. In Italy, sufferers are given a stipend to spend on gluten-free food.
Some doctors blame drug makers, in part, for the lack of awareness and the lack of support. “The drug makers have not been interested in celiac because, until very recently, there have been no medications to treat it,” said Dr. Peter Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University. “And since drug makers are responsible for so much of the education that doctors receive, the medical community is largely unaware of the disease.”
Elizabeth has suffered from gluten intolerance for most of her life, so we’re very aware of the difficulty (and added cost) of finding food that doesn’t contain wheat gluten. Wheat is a very cheap way of adding bulk and body to foods that traditionally do not contain it . . . it’s distressing the number of times we’ve discovered that a packaged food that used to be gluten-free has been “improved” . . . and the extent of the improvement has been to add wheat in place of more expensive non-gluten ingredients.
