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Obama Gets Health Team in Place
President Obama has now filled several of the major positions on his health care team. They include former Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius as Health and Human Services secretary, former New York City health commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, and another former New York City health commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, as Food and Drug Administration commissioner. Ms. Sebelius, a former insurance commissioner, was chosen in part for her health insurance expertise, while Dr. Frieden is well known as a crusader for various public health causes, such as decreasing the number of people who smoke and removing trans fats from restaurant food. Dr. Hamburg is respected for her work on a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis outbreak in New York.
AACE Issues Conflict Statement
The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists has issued a position statement on conflicts of interest for association members. The statement asserts that “the appearance of conflict of interest can have damaging effects to the integrity of the association. In some situations, a relationship with industry or another organization may alter a board/council/committee/task force member's perspective without any awareness by that individual of any loss of objectivity.” However, the statement continues, “everyone who is in a position to control the content of an educational activity must disclose all relevant financial relationships. … The intent of this disclosure is not to prevent a speaker with commercial affiliations from presenting, but rather to provide learners with information from which they may make their own judgments. Informed learners are the final safeguards in [ensuring] that a continuing medical education activity is independent from commercial influence.” The full statement can be found online at
Diabetes Drug Costs Rise
Spending for diabetes drugs increased 10% in 2008, according to a report from Medco Health Solutions, a mail-order pharmacy company. The increase in diabetes drug costs was smaller than that for selected neurologic drugs (18%) but larger than for respiratory drugs (6%). The report notes that the diabetes epidemic continues to grow, as does the number of Americans with prediabetes, currently estimated at 57 million. “Fifty-seven million people with prediabetes represent an enormous future burden on our health care system,” the report says. It concluded that “obesity-related onset of diabetes is likely to be a major contributor to the rapid utilization growth of diabetes drugs over the next several years.”
Many Don't Have Glycemic Control
About 55% of American adults with diabetes had their blood sugar and cholesterol levels under control in 2006, according to data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. About 59% had their BP under control, with improvement in that category among certain ethnic groups—for instance, the percentage of blacks with diabetes who had their blood pressure under control increased from 39% in 2002 to 58% in 2006. An estimated 6 million Americans have undiagnosed diabetes, the report notes.
New Web Site Pushes Reform
Doctors for America, a grassroots physician organization, is launching a campaign to get physicians' voices heard on health care reform. The “Voices of Physicians” campaign has collected and published comments from doctors nationwide at
Obama Gets Health Team in Place
President Obama has now filled several of the major positions on his health care team. They include former Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius as Health and Human Services secretary, former New York City health commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, and another former New York City health commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, as Food and Drug Administration commissioner. Ms. Sebelius, a former insurance commissioner, was chosen in part for her health insurance expertise, while Dr. Frieden is well known as a crusader for various public health causes, such as decreasing the number of people who smoke and removing trans fats from restaurant food. Dr. Hamburg is respected for her work on a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis outbreak in New York.
AACE Issues Conflict Statement
The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists has issued a position statement on conflicts of interest for association members. The statement asserts that “the appearance of conflict of interest can have damaging effects to the integrity of the association. In some situations, a relationship with industry or another organization may alter a board/council/committee/task force member's perspective without any awareness by that individual of any loss of objectivity.” However, the statement continues, “everyone who is in a position to control the content of an educational activity must disclose all relevant financial relationships. … The intent of this disclosure is not to prevent a speaker with commercial affiliations from presenting, but rather to provide learners with information from which they may make their own judgments. Informed learners are the final safeguards in [ensuring] that a continuing medical education activity is independent from commercial influence.” The full statement can be found online at
Diabetes Drug Costs Rise
Spending for diabetes drugs increased 10% in 2008, according to a report from Medco Health Solutions, a mail-order pharmacy company. The increase in diabetes drug costs was smaller than that for selected neurologic drugs (18%) but larger than for respiratory drugs (6%). The report notes that the diabetes epidemic continues to grow, as does the number of Americans with prediabetes, currently estimated at 57 million. “Fifty-seven million people with prediabetes represent an enormous future burden on our health care system,” the report says. It concluded that “obesity-related onset of diabetes is likely to be a major contributor to the rapid utilization growth of diabetes drugs over the next several years.”
Many Don't Have Glycemic Control
About 55% of American adults with diabetes had their blood sugar and cholesterol levels under control in 2006, according to data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. About 59% had their BP under control, with improvement in that category among certain ethnic groups—for instance, the percentage of blacks with diabetes who had their blood pressure under control increased from 39% in 2002 to 58% in 2006. An estimated 6 million Americans have undiagnosed diabetes, the report notes.
New Web Site Pushes Reform
Doctors for America, a grassroots physician organization, is launching a campaign to get physicians' voices heard on health care reform. The “Voices of Physicians” campaign has collected and published comments from doctors nationwide at
Obama Gets Health Team in Place
President Obama has now filled several of the major positions on his health care team. They include former Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius as Health and Human Services secretary, former New York City health commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, and another former New York City health commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, as Food and Drug Administration commissioner. Ms. Sebelius, a former insurance commissioner, was chosen in part for her health insurance expertise, while Dr. Frieden is well known as a crusader for various public health causes, such as decreasing the number of people who smoke and removing trans fats from restaurant food. Dr. Hamburg is respected for her work on a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis outbreak in New York.
AACE Issues Conflict Statement
The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists has issued a position statement on conflicts of interest for association members. The statement asserts that “the appearance of conflict of interest can have damaging effects to the integrity of the association. In some situations, a relationship with industry or another organization may alter a board/council/committee/task force member's perspective without any awareness by that individual of any loss of objectivity.” However, the statement continues, “everyone who is in a position to control the content of an educational activity must disclose all relevant financial relationships. … The intent of this disclosure is not to prevent a speaker with commercial affiliations from presenting, but rather to provide learners with information from which they may make their own judgments. Informed learners are the final safeguards in [ensuring] that a continuing medical education activity is independent from commercial influence.” The full statement can be found online at
Diabetes Drug Costs Rise
Spending for diabetes drugs increased 10% in 2008, according to a report from Medco Health Solutions, a mail-order pharmacy company. The increase in diabetes drug costs was smaller than that for selected neurologic drugs (18%) but larger than for respiratory drugs (6%). The report notes that the diabetes epidemic continues to grow, as does the number of Americans with prediabetes, currently estimated at 57 million. “Fifty-seven million people with prediabetes represent an enormous future burden on our health care system,” the report says. It concluded that “obesity-related onset of diabetes is likely to be a major contributor to the rapid utilization growth of diabetes drugs over the next several years.”
Many Don't Have Glycemic Control
About 55% of American adults with diabetes had their blood sugar and cholesterol levels under control in 2006, according to data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. About 59% had their BP under control, with improvement in that category among certain ethnic groups—for instance, the percentage of blacks with diabetes who had their blood pressure under control increased from 39% in 2002 to 58% in 2006. An estimated 6 million Americans have undiagnosed diabetes, the report notes.
New Web Site Pushes Reform
Doctors for America, a grassroots physician organization, is launching a campaign to get physicians' voices heard on health care reform. The “Voices of Physicians” campaign has collected and published comments from doctors nationwide at