For the most part, this is a diverse group of people. But I see someone from a cancer foundation and from the Lance Armstrong foundation. Unfortunately there's no-one on the list with a focus on diabetes.
Diabetes is estimated to consume about 1.3% of the total US GDP. That's more than all of agriculture contributes to the gross domestic product for the year.
I think curing diabetes should be one of our nation's top healthcare priorities. But then I'm biased.
Do you use the Dexcom continuous glucose monitor, or the Minimed system? Or maybe you even used the FreeStyle Navigator while it was in trials? Then here's a survey for you.
Directly from Caroline Corner's posting on TuDiabetes:
Hello,
I am doing some CGMS market research and I thought that perhaps some of you would like to participate. I am a health care financial analyst and I think that patient input on the devices is a key metric for smart investing. So, I would really like to get your input. There is a $5 Starbucks card for the first 50 responses. Thank you in advance for your time and feedback. I will be glad to share the results of the survey with the group.
Did you know that the Unite for Diabetes folks were also doing a promotion that involved geocaching?
Geo-what you say? Geocaching is a 'sport' where people hide a cache of items and post the location (latitude and longitude) so others can go looking for the hidden items. Read the FAQ at Geocaching.com for more on the great activity.
Because of the unite for diabetes campaign I decided earlier in the year to try some geocaching. And this weekend we found a Unite for Diabetes Travel Bug! I was thrilled. Here's a picture of two of the children with the cache that contained the travel bug.
Now I need to find a new cache that moves this cache to it's final location, somewhere in Afghanistan! I'll probably drop it off in southern Massachusetts, or Rhode Island in the next few weeks.
What do you need for geocaching? Bug spray (it's summer), a GPS device (I'm using a borrowed one) and a good eye for following clues, and some patience. And if you want to find a cache near you have a look at this Google maps search for caches. You'll probably be surprised how many you find in your area.
The children are really starting to get into it. Now I need to get some other interesting things to leave off at any caches I come across!
Lea is a new blogger and I really love her blog name, Candy at Midnight. Please go say hello to her.
We're so fortunate to have the blogosphere as a resource to help us learn about diabetes.
Between the OC Diabetes community and newer sites like TuDiabetes, there are just lots of places to connect with folks who have diabetes.
If you have diabetes and you've never been able to meet up with another person with diabetes jump into one of these places and start commenting.
On TuDiabetes, we now have a US Northeast group. If you live in one of those nine states, please do join up. I'd like to see if we can maybe have a bloggers get together later in the year.
Dexcom has just announced that their current CEO, Andy Rasdal, is being replaced by Terrance H. Gregg formerly of Minimed and Medtronic.
I have to believe this is a good move for Dexcom, maybe it's part of the reason their shares have been up a lot in the last 2 days. Terrance will bring a lot of business expertise appropriate to that specific market to Dexcom.
And according to their recent webcast, Dexcom is set to publicly launch the Dexcom SEVEN on June 23rd. That seems to be when people will start to get hold of it.
These are exciting times for Dexcom. I just hope that the Dexcom SEVEN has enough improvements over the Dexcom STS to actually justify the hype.
Note: I currently own some shares in Dexcom, I work not to let this ownership influence what I say about the company or its products.
When I read David Mendosa's post, L is for Lazy, I just had to blog on it.
I was really struck by his comment
Even when it may appear to others that we “aren’t doing anything,” we may well be taking care of our bodies. Nothing is as inactive as sleeping, yet many people with diabetes suffer from getting too little of it, as I have written here.
My wife and I were talking about diabetes over the weekend. We realized that our three children have really no idea about the amount of work I do to try and keep my blood sugars in a reasonable range. If they don't know, what chance do others have.
So kick back and relax a little every so often. It's not being lazy, you're just taking better care of yourself.
Warning: I'm updating my blogger template and my blogroll. I apologize for the big RSS feed updates. I'll let it all settle down for now.
I'm going camping with my children (Mom's staying at home) for the first three days of next week. We'll be at the lovely Otter River state forest in Massachusetts.
Oh, and we'll not be packing our own tent. This time we're staying in a yurt! You can see them in the picture on the Otter River page.
I'll post some pictures after we get back. I can't wait!
This Monday at 1:30 PM (PDT) Dexcom management will be having a conference call to discuss the approval and launch of the Dexcom SEVEN CGMS. Hopefully this will answer some of the questions raised during the earlier announcement about the FDA approval for this system.
The number and codes have changed for this call. The new numbers are given below.
The number for the call is (866) 290-0920 (US/Canada) or (913) 312-6670 (International). And the participant code is "7146581". You should dial in about 1:25 PM (PDT). This seems to be a listen-only line. Does anyone know what number to call so you can ask questions?
The conference call will also be webcast. You can find the link to the webcast on the Dexcom webcast page. You can go there today and pre-register for this call.
I'd like to know the answers to the following questions:
When will the Dexcom SEVEN system be available to consumers?
Will the new software be available on the same date? If not, when will the software ship?
What's the pricing for the system and sensors?
What's the upgrade pricing for the new system?
I hear the transmitter and sensors are waterproof. Is the receiver also waterproof?
I'd like more details about the software. Does it provide statistics, including the the average, and standard deviation for blood glucose values? Does is allow access to the data?
If this is such great news, how come the stock price is still depressed?
I'll be camping at the time. So I'll wait and listen to the archive later in the week.
The updated Dexcom press release doesn't give much more details than I reproduced here.
What questions would you ask Dexcom, if you could? Perhaps you'd like to e-mail them to Jessica Ching, Marketing VP for Dexcom. Her e-mail address is jching@dexcom.com.
Note: I currently own some shares in Dexcom, I work not to let this ownership influence what I say about the company or its products.
I know you're going to think that I've lost my mind. Because what I'm complaining about may not seem that important to you. But it is probably a lot more important than you think. So bear with me.
On Tuesday, I went for an eye doctor appointment to see what was going on with my right eye. I've had some blurriness in the central part of my vision for a while. So the doctor decided to take some pictures while injecting a fluorescent dye into me. That way if there are any issues, they'll show up clearly in the camera.
Now being a geek, I thought this was way cool. I asked the man doing the pictures whether I could get copies of them. I figured the kids would be interested in them, and I might post one to the Diabetes Made Visible photo group on Flickr.
Well he mentioned that I'd need to fill out some paperwork and then he could print me some copies. But I didn't want paper copies. I wanted the high resolution photos that I saw on the screen in front of me. So I said, "well I just want to take them home on a Flash drive". His immediate response is "no, you can't take the files".
Now it's not like I'm removing them. I only want a copy. When I pushed him on this, he said they're "scared what you might do with them". Now can you think of something terrible I might do? Print big posters and e-mail to folks causing heart failure? What's possible bad thing could I do with close up pictures of the back of my eyes?
So that's bad data day item #1. Oh, and by the way, there's no significant damage to my eye. So we're just going to keep watch on it (pun intended).
After I got home, I spent some time talking with someone in Dexcom. I'm trying to get one of the new Dexcom SEVEN systems with software, so I can review it.
The response is that right now they're trying to get training ready for the systems. So there are none available for review.
While I was talking with this woman, I asked why Dexcom is making it so hard for us to get to our data. Her response is that it's due to FDA restrictions.
This is bad data item #2.
I'm checking now to see if the FDA remark is actually true. I can't find anything in various advisory committee transcripts about this. I've fired off notes to some contacts within the FDA. I'll let you know what I find out.
Did you read my post about Google and health issues? Now how can we get access to our data if you have 'the' diabetes hospital (Joslin Clinic) saying "you can't have your files". And if the FDA or a device maker is saying "you can't have your data".
I'm just steamed about this!!
How can we improve things with a shrinking supply of endocrinologists, and without access to the facts we need to improve our control?
Grrr!!
Update: I currently use four pieces of diabetes-related software. All of them have the data locked down in some way.
Dexcom: Data encrypted or in binary form (unable to crack -- so far)
OneTouch: Data password protected (easy to crack)
MiniMed: Data password protected (easy to crack)
AgaMatrix: Data password protected (easy to crack)
So I think this is a widespread practice. But I can't figure out why.
ADA Application with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have just published a regulation for the "Application by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for Continued Recognition as a National Accreditation Program for Accrediting Entities To Furnish Outpatient Diabetes Self-Management Training".
The details for both the application by the ADA and submission of comments can be found in the published PDF file from CMS. The background section that starts on the bottom of the first page provides interesting details on the process including:
A national accreditation organization applying for deeming authority must provide us with reasonable assurance that the accrediting organization requires accredited entities to meet requirements that are at least as stringent as CMS’s requirements. We may approve and recognize a nonprofit or not-for-profit organization with demonstrated experience in representing the interests of individuals with diabetes to accredit entities to furnish training.
Now I know there's been some recent discussion on D-blogs about the ADA and whether they are being influenced by large drug companies.
If you're not comfortable with how the ADA is conducting their business, this may be a useful way to raise your concerns. If you have any comments about this application, you can submit them to the CMS provided you do this by 5 PM on June 25, 2007.
I think it's a well organized list and clearly thoughtfully put together. I'm always working at making my blog posts better and this may be a useful checklist for me. I hope you find it useful.
Diabetes: technology, devices, software, and other stuff.
About Me
Name: Bernard Farrell
Location: Massachusetts, United States
I was born in Ireland and now live in the US.
I have had Type 1 diabetes for over 35 years. I struggle with my blood sugar, the same as most people with diabetes.
I wear a Cozmo 1800 insulin pump and a Dexcom SEVEN CGM to track my blood glucose levels. I also take Symlin to help control my post-meal blood sugars.
I'm blessed by God, and every day brings the possibility of a cure.
