Letter From The Editor

This week the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) came out with some new guidelines on the use of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) for non-insulin using patients. (See Item #2.) Their new guidelines talk about how SMBG should be considered at the time of diagnosis but only used when patients, their …

Only seven weeks to go!! Now that we are in November there are less than two months to go until our Medicare part D patients get their new program and they can get back out of the “donut hole.” We really need to make an effort to help them stay …

Remember that DPPS trial that was completed years ago, and showed that modest lifestyle changes could prevent the onset of diabetes? Now an extention of that study, the DPPOS, has proven that A Decade Later, Lifestyle Changes or Metformin Still Lower Type 2 Diabetes Risk. In fact this extension showed …

I was having a conversation with a group of interns and residents last week and we were talking about diabetes and obesity. One of the older residents who has children made the case that because of safety issues our kids get driven everywhere. She pointed out that when she was …

Have you ever experienced the “Diabetes Déjà Vu Factor”? Last week it was in Santa Monica, this week in Boston, both times limo drivers, both times diabetes, both times they did not know what to do. I got into the limo in Boston to run some errands and the conversation turned …

This past weekend I was in California to serve on a panel discussing insulin protocols in both the hospital and long term care settings. There was a lot of great information on what different hospitals did. It was interesting to hear how the choice of pens or vials was made …

This week, Steve and I have put together a great summary of the top stories from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes Conference in Salzburg, Austria. Although there was a lot of great news, the bottom line was not much new has occurred since the ADA Scientific Sessions …

This week, the word “pancreatitis” is back in the news, as the FDA suspects that Merck & Co., Inc.’s blockbuster diabetes drug Januvia may be linked to serious cases of pancreatitis. Although many leading endocrinologists including Steve Edelman and Ralph DeFronzo have previously told us that patients with diabetes are …

All week long we’ve heard politicians, lobbyists and radio personalities weigh in with their opinions on a national health care system. It seems like the public option idea is what is driving the most discussions and debate. It also seems to me that maybe they should ask the people who …

This week Par Pharmaceutical announced that they had been granted approval to market generic Starlix (Nateglinide). See this week’s New Product. Does the approval of this generic effectively mean we have a new treatment for Diabetes available? I think it does. When Starlix and Prandin first came out, the state …