Comments on: Another Commercial Partnership: JDRF and BD Join Forces to Improve Insulin Pumping

By: Insulin Pump Subsidy for Children accounced « Health Insurance Australia

Insulin Pump Subsidy for Children accounced « Health Insurance Australia — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:50:23 +0000

[...] Another Commercial Partnership: JDRF and BD Join Forces to Improve Insulin Pumping (diabetesmine.com) [...]

By: William Lee Dubois

William Lee Dubois — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:51:31 +0000

Slightly different view point here: if is that shallow, what are the risks it will pull out?

By: Marco Bianchi

Marco Bianchi — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:57:10 +0000

Melitta has capture my way of thinking. Technology is the only answer. Period. I was diagnosed 30 years ago and this “5 year cure” was used then, and as i can read still used now. JDRF funds great research, but even the fundamental science work they support is still in its infancy. Cure is the aim but nowhere near. For those who keep putting off the hard work needed to manage diabetes well (in the idea that a cure is coming soon) the spectre of long-term complications might become a reality. closed-loop sytems will be our best option, therefore if JDRF funds those developments, i’m fine with that. Your other option is to is to buy JnJ and Medtronic stocks.

By: Penny

Penny — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:18:50 +0000

JDRF scientists have known for over 10 years about the positive ‘curative’ effects from Vitamin D supplementation amidst epidemic levels of Vitamin D deficiency. This is a fact yet where is their campaign to wipe out Vitamin D deficiency through education and awareness? Well?

By: Melitta

Melitta — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 06:30:09 +0000

I am a pragmatist, and I really support what JDRF is doing with these partnerships. I believe that for me personally, technology is what will significantly improve my life (I don’t believe that I will see a true cure in my lifetime). We Type 1s don’t have the numbers to get the money/advances moving our way, so I am grateful to JDRF for making it happen.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:50:29 +0000

I highly doubt JDRF will ever donate to Dr. Faustman. She applied for grants with them the first time around for a mere 2 million and they turned her down, and then turned around and attempted to discredit her! Besides, a grant to Dr. Faustman that leads to a cure won’t have the pay-off a partnership with Big Pharma businesses does. In fact, with these business partnerships they’re probably crossing their fingers a cure isn’t found before they can reap in the profits.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:16:04 +0000

JDRF… if you are listening PLEASE dontate some of your millions of dollars to Dr. Faustman…. she needs 8 million to start Phase II of her clinical trial and only has 2 million. What’s 6 million to JDRF?? Pocket Change?? JDRF can still do the “side” stuff but this would really help give us donators much needed confidence in JDRF.

I feel my checkbook calling me to write another donation to Boston and Dr. Faustman!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:49:53 +0000

Anne – I agree with you that tools that actually improve our health would be welcomed. My point though is that at this point in time CGM is hardly worth the money and effort since it cannot replace fingerstick testing because the margin of error is too wide. Not to mention they should work on closing the gap of margin of error on traditional fingerstick monitors as well, those aren’t so hot either. I use an insulin pump, without it I most likely would have died. But there are at least a dozen different insulin pumps on the market and 3 times as many glucose monitors. You can pick size, color, function, etc. I don’t want another tool that “might” improve my A1c by 1 to 2%. It’s time for a cure. As you stated, in 1988 they told you a cure was 5 years away. They told me the same thing when I was diagnosed in 1998. And they’ve been saying “5 years away” for the cure since insulin was discovered in 1922 – that’s 88 years, according to the estimate of a cure being 5 years away since then we should have 17 different cures by now.

The JDRF was founded by parents of children with diabetes with the specific goal of finding a cure for type 1 diabetes – there are plenty of drug and device companies out there working on better tools, JDRF needs to stick with its original goal of curing this disease or give up it’s non-profit status and join the rest of Big Pharma. I’m not donating money to JDRF if it’s not going to finding a cure. I make enough “donations” to Big Pharma every time I check my levels, dose up insulin, etc.

By: Anne Findlay

Anne Findlay — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:10:32 +0000

I want a cure as much as the next person but I would welcome changes that would allow me to live my life with reduced stress over lows and highs. Obviously the AP won’t be a cure. But if I can spend most of my day in excellent control without having to worry about it? I’ll take it.

When I was diagnosed in 1988, I was told a cure was about “5 years off.” While I still hope for that, living better with diabetes in the meantime would be a big help.

CGM technology will continue to improve. Different people have had different experiences. For me, I was able to cut down on my BG testing, and the accuracy was good enough to drop my A1c by 1%. (Still, my insurance won’t cover it because I am not having seizures or going to the ER for bad lows.)

I think the JDRF does have to be careful with these investments; openness with donors and strict follow-through with corporations needs to be in place… I think they should have some say in the pricing of the end result. What use is all of this if it is so expensive that no one can afford it?

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:47:50 +0000

There is a reason most insurance companies don’t want to cover CGM. CGM is worthless for most people with diabetes. The margin of error is so great on CGM systems that they cannot even replace fingerstick testing, you still have to do as many, or almost as many, fingerstick tests. While it is a great tool to figure out trends, it’s hardly worth the cost to use on a daily basis for most PWD – just ask your doctor to set you up with one for a week to trace trends. I would much rather they come up with a fingerstick monitor that has a much smaller margin of error than to continue inventing devices with large margins of error.

How many differnt monitors, pumps and “cute accessories” do we need before we start focusing on an actual cure?