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Insulet and LifeScan have entered a partnership through which the latter’s OneTouch blood-glucose monitoring technology will be integrated into the former’s OmniPod Personal Diabetes Manager. They will develop a new PDM for the OmniPod tubeless Insulin pump system and expect to bring it to market in 2013. It will work …

Bydureon is now available in pharmacies. Medicare Update: The 28% cut in physician payments scheduled to begin March 1 will be postponed and/or will be offset by cuts in the budget.

Endocrinologists would prescribe a newly approved weekly treatment for Type 2 diabetes to one-fifth of their patients, a new survey showed. Decision Resources announced the results of a survey of US endocrinologists who said they would prescribe Bydureon to 20% of their patients taking into consideration the reimbursement hurdles and …

According to a new study, teammates in a team-based weight loss competition significantly influenced each other’s weight loss, suggesting that shedding pounds can have a ripple effect. Team members not only achieved similar weight loss outcomes, but participants who said their teammates played a large role in their weight loss …

The cost of statins in the US is radically higher than the costs paid for the same brands in the UK. Statin costs were as much as 400% higher in the US than in the UK. Statins are prescribed in far greater numbers in the US. Thirty-three percent of Americans …

FDA Approves Third New Diabetes Drug within Last 7 Days See this week’s Item #3 for information on the third new drug approved by the FDA recently. Diabetes Prevention a Waste of Resources? See this week’s Item #4.

Be careful when you kiss this Valentine’s Day. “Mid-February is usually the peak season for infectious diseases, such as the seasonal and H1N1 flu, mononucleosis, colds and coughs,” says Jorge Parada, MD, medical director, infectious disease at Loyola University Health System. “And drinking from the same wine glass or sharing …

Under the new benefit, Medicare beneficiaries are eligible to receive free obesity screenings, and individuals identified as obese (BMI of 30 kg/m2 or greater) are also eligible for free obesity counseling in primary care settings. The counseling consists of weekly face-to-face sessions with a primary care provider for the first …

Consumers’ perceptions of what constitutes a healthy snack are subjective, but even so, 86% of shoppers consider fresh fruit a healthy snack, and 73% believe raw vegetables are a healthy snack, according to a recent consumer survey by Mintel, a market research firm. Nuts and seeds, too, qualified as healthy, …

FDA Approves Second New Diabetes Drug within Three Days Bydureon was the first to be approved, now find out what the second new drug is. (See this week’s Item #3.)