Letter from the Editor #508

Last week two of the most influential people on healthcare caused an uproar among diabetes experts. Dr. Mehmet Oz and Oprah Winfrey did a show about the diabetes problem titled "America's Silent Killer." While most of us think that any information on how big the problem of diabetes is good, the information on a show so powerful was less than accurate and complete. I received over 100 emails from our readers about the show. In an effort to help you understand what your patients might have seen, I turned to Sheri Colberg, Ph.D., FACSM.  She explained that while the show focused mainly on how poor lifestyle choices contribute to the onset of Type 2 diabetes, there unfortunately was a lot of misinformation disseminated to the viewing public and it was very misleading on several important points. To find out what they discussed see Sheri's article, "America's Silent Killer: Oprah and Dr. Oz want to Save Your Life."

Recently, Steve, Andrew and I were at the ASHP meeting in Las Vegas and there was a lot of focus on medication errors. Since insulin can have such an immediate effect on patients it was interesting to see the focus placed on insulin use in the hospital setting. This week we have an example of how errors can occur thanks to our colleagues at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. Take a look at "Preventing Medication Errors" and see if you could imagine that happening at a hospital near you.

Two weeks ago we reported on a new drug in development, LX4211, a new SGLT2-inhibitor in development. In the article we mentioned that it was first in class research. This was not correct. Over the past two years we have been reporting on the progress of the true first in class SGLT2-inhibitor, called dapagliflozin that is currently in Phase III trials. As recently as October we reported on this medication. To learn more about that trial, see our original October 2009 article, "First in Class Drug, Dapagliflozin (SGLT inhibitor) Expected for FDA Submission Soon."

Announcements:

The TCOYD team will be in Sacramento, California, at the Sacramento Convention Center for the TCOYD Conference and Health Fair, February 27. TCOYD is a not for profit organization dedicated to informing and empowering people with diabetes to become actively involved in their own health care. For more 2010 upcoming conference details, please go to TCOYD.org.

CE/CDE Programs

We now have 49 CE/CDE programs on diabetes, accredited for Nurses, Dietitians, Pharmacists, Physicians and Podiatrists: www.diabetesincontrol.com/cme

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We can make a difference!

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Check out this week's "Test Your Diabetes Knowledge" question.

Dave Joffe, Editor-in-chief