At the beginning, as a new diabetic, you are so overwhelmed that you do not see the “big picture.” Over time, however, you begin to realize that much of what you are told is decided by those who do not have the disease in the first place and really don’t have a clue as to what it is like. The amazing thing is that the pharmaceutical industry, which is your lifeline as a type 1 diabetic, is really making “a killing” (literally) off of us. For instance, Humalog insulin is now $132 per bottle, and Lantus insulin is now over $100 per bottle. That is over $200 per month just for insulin alone, not withstanding the test strips, meters, etc. Keep careful track of your monthly expenditures because it will come in handy in income tax time!

AlthoughI have maintained excellent control since 1996, the year I got it, and as a result have had no complications at all, that does not mean that living with type 1 diabetes is easy. It is a complicated, maddening and frustrating disease for which a cure should have been found YESTERDAY! I agree with Brent’s post because type 1 diabetics make no insulin of their own and must take it by injection to survive. This causes real vulnerability to exploitation, and the pharmaceutical industry has taken full advantage of it.

That’s very cool. Thank you for sharing the experience up in Indianapolis. Conspiracy or not — I’d walk through that place like a kid visiting Disney World for the first time. Not quite Disney – but the worlds FIRST (and only) diabetes theme park

Always,
Allie

Daniel Haszard Bangor Maine zyprexa caused my diabetes http://www.zyprexa-victims.com

Thank you very much for the response. As a “new” diabetic, at the very least I would hope you look on what is going on in the diabetic world with a jaundiced eye because the truth is you have become one of the victims of chronic disease which the pharmaceutical industry thrives on.

I am a 50-year diabetic and would NOT honor Lilly for 50 years of hell. The only thing I can really say is that I have survived because of insulin–not because of Lilly and all of their new protocols.

You are correct: there have been 2400 50-year awards, and my wife misquoted me when I referenced the 17 75-year awards. Consider the fact that 600 diabetics die, daily, which is an approximate total of 200,000. Since 1972, and considering that only 5% of diabetic deaths are from Type 1, in a span of 35 years, there have been over 400,000 Type 1 diabetic deaths. I would not consider that 2400/400,000 is a very good success rate based on an average life span of 78 years. If you add in the “quality of life” compared to that of a “normal” person, I would basically consider this “torture for profit.”

My son-in-law, who is 35, is a newly-diagnosed Type 1 diabetic. Over the last 4 years, he has been forced to go to an insulin pump for regulation of his diabetes. Like you, he, too, is willing to believe in our current medical system, where MOST doctors are willing to prostitute themselves to the pharmaceutical companies. If you consider just one fact, you may get an inkling into why diabetes is ONLY big business. Back in 1982, I was introduced to home bG monitoring, using a color-range blood glucose stick. You must know what this once slice of diabetes management has developed into.

A friend of mine, who has been a Type 1 for 20 years, and is wealthy enough to have 5 monitors, recently compared his meters because he was having trouble controlling bG. At one point, one drop of blood produced results ranging from 70 mg/dL to 170 mg/dL. At that point, because he maintains very tight control, he was left with the option of taking 2 units of Humalog to move his blood sugar into the “normal” range, if he believed the monitor that read 170. On the other hand, if he took the 2 units, and the meter with the 70 mg/dL reading was accurate, he could then go pick up his kids from school, and risk ALL their lives as he drove with a blood sugar that was approaching 20.

As an inventor, I know there are several patented non-invasive bG monitors that are extremely accurate and will send results to a hand-held computer. These are prevented from reaching the marketplace because currently it is more desirable to have diabetics pay $5-$10 per day for bG strips. This simple slice of diabetes management illustrates why YOU will always be diabetic as long as Big Pharma has THEIR say about your management.

Can you multiply 20,000,000 patients by 3-4 blood sticks per day? The profit margin on this 1970s technology is ludicrous.

Yes, you can call me a disillusioned, senile old man who had experienced too many insulin reactions over my life span; or even say I am a conspiracy theorist. But the reason the world is in the state it is in, is because people who are in a position to make a difference–to do something for mankind–like many journalists, celebrities and medical professionals, have sold out to the industry.

Please consider: you could probably help yourself and your diabetic condition much more advantageously by researching and promoting the likes of Dianne Faustmann at Mass. General and Dr. Hammermann, at Washington University in St. Louis. CURE is your only hope for a really long and normal life. As a fellow diabetic, I feel (analogously) like I have been raped for the last 25 years (since the advent of rDNA insulins/bG monitors/specialty foods/etc.) Now, you enter the picture as a “significant other” (which you are, as a fellow diabetic), and tell me that if I hadn’t acted so provacatively, or if I had dressed differently . . . I wouldn’t have been raped. But fortunately, my rapist DID use a condom.

You need to tell an acquaintance of mine, whose daughter just died at age 51, after following every guideline imaginable issued by Joslin, ADA, JDRF and the best doctors “money could buy,” that today’s protocols are worthy of GREAT APPRECIATION.

I wish you well and hope you can find comfort in the care that you are receiving, and will be yet another 50-year award recipient–even though it won’t be due to today’s management practices.

OK, so over the years I have worked for and with dozens of corporations. The fact is, there are often inherent conflicts of interest. But these organizations are not all bad.

I have checked out your “conspiracy theory” book and website, and I don’t happen to abide by that philosophy.

Whether you like it or not, lots of us ARE APPRECIATIVE that companies like Lilly produce and distribute the medicines that keep us alive. Hopefully, someday there will be something even better — a cure.

Regarding my trip, I’ve stated clearly that the award winners were hosted by Lilly. Otherwise, I would have had no reason to fly there out of my own pocket.

But you can rest assured that I will continue to be upfront and critical when necessary of Lilly and its peers.

btw, the Joslin Diabetes Center has awarded 2,400 people with 50-year insulin awards worldwide since 1970. (see http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-08/jdc-jav080906.php)

I believe they are all pretty “giddy with appreciation.” I know I would be

Why did you qualify your appreciation? Since Lilly’s drugs “keep us alive,” must we also throw laurels their way on the pretense that they provide GOOD medicine.

India is suing Lilly for providing substandard (read INFERIOR) insulin to their population. Is that the action of a good corporate citizen? Lilly’s response: “We didn’t make the product (even though it was marketed under our name).” The product was manufactured in France. DOESN’T that make you wonder about the quality of the stuff that we are “allowed” to purchase here . . . where it comes from, and what kind of safeguards protect us.

Oh, I know, the FDA GUARANTEES that we here in the U.S. are protected. As a matter of fact, the FDA (currently a subsidiary of Big Pharma) helps all diabetics. It has shilled for Lilly, allowing THEM to import insulin crystals for brewing our “just-like-the-human-body-makes rDNA insulin” while placing roadblocks before any diabetic who cannot use the genetically-engineered stuff and must seek outside our borders for material to sustain life.

But back to APPRECIATION. Have you thought to tender appreciation for Lilly’s generosity in providing 25- and 50-year awards to those diabetics who survive the disease for these timeframes. I believe the number of 50-year recipients is an astounding SEVENTEEN!!! I am sure that everyone of those 17 is GIDDY with appreciation. Would YOU consider 17 survivors in an 80-year tenure of providing insulin to MILLIONS a success rate worthy of merit?

BTW, concerning your trip to Indianapolis? Did YOU pay for it?

It is certainly a tragedy, but many organizations have worked very hard to help victims. See http://www.cdc.gov/des