Speech By the ADA's Richard Kahn

Treatment
1

I just wanted to point every one to Amy Tenderich’s site.diabetesmine.com to view her blog post about a recent speech given by Richard Kahn. He basically questioned the need and usefulness for devices like insulin pumps and CGMS technology. He suggests doctors should just remind patients to actually take their meds, instead of developing and prescribing new drugs. He also doubts the necessity for type 2 patients being treated with diet or oral medications to check their blood sugars at home.

With a prominent figure & “advocate” like him at the helm, I wonder how our futures will look. Should we sacrifice out qualilty of life for his “business” perspective on OUR health? I suggest you read Amy’s post and check for an upcoming petition in the works!

2

If he is talking about the improvement of the diabetic community as a whole, ie. the average does better, he may have a point.

I have read that compliance is a big issue with medications. So getting more folks to actually take their meds is probably a good thing, and probably more immediately effective for the overall average of all diabetics, than other initiatives that might be tried.

But why one or the other. I suspect that the community of folks who want to test frequently and pursue pumps and continuous monitoring and technolopgy are not the ones with compliance issues. We are the one’s who are taking this as seriously as we can.