Foracare TN'G Voice Meter: Great Option for PWD's With Visual Impairments (others, too!)
I pretty much limit my diabetes blogging these days, except when I think there ' s something REALLY important or unique to share, although much of what I began with now has several nonprofits and organizations to advance the issues. & nbsp;Most of my diabetes-related stuff these days can be found on my Twitter feed, which is updated pretty much daily. & nbsp;Still, when I need more space to share information, this blog is still where I turn. < br / > < br / > As I last blogged a few weeks ago (see < a href= " http://goo.gl/mi5nEm " target= " _blank " > http://goo.gl/mi5nEm < /a > for my post), I was very sorry when my go...
Source: Scott's Web Log - July 25, 2016 Category: Endocrinology Tags: glucose meters blind. visually-impaired Kitty Kitty Castellini Source Type: blogs
A Tribute to My Dear Friend, Kitty Castellini
Between out-of-town guests staying with me for the month, and various other issues going on in my personal life, I've been busy as of late. But I was really saddened when I learned that my good friend Kitty Castellini passed away on Sunday (June 19, 2016). I'd met Kitty quite a few times at various diabetes conferences and meetings over the years, but we continued to speak by telephone in between.Kitty's most widely distributed photofrom Diabetes Living Today®Kitty, me and my spouse enjoyed the Indianapolis Indians minor league baseball game we attended in Indianapolis a few years ago, and we spent most of the...
Source: Scott's Web Log - June 23, 2016 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2016 Kitty Kitty Castellini memorial tribute Source Type: blogs
Why I'm Not (Yet) Supporting #MyPumpChoice
This week, there was a bit of a brew-ha-ha over the joint announcement [see < a href= " https://www.unitedhealthcareonline.com/ccmcontent/ProviderII/UHC/en-US/Assets/ProviderStaticFiles/ProviderStaticFilesPdf/News/May-Network-Bulletin_PCA-1-001514-04052016_R5.pdf " target= " _blank " > HERE < /a > & nbsp;for the news] from United Healthcare (the largest for-profit healthcare insurer in the U.S.) and Medtronic over insulin pump coverage, specifically that United Healthcare had chosen Medtronic to be the company ' s " preferred " insulin pump supplier, hence other pump and pump supply brands like Roche, Tandem or Animas wo...
Source: Scott's Web Log - May 5, 2016 Category: Endocrinology Tags: insulin pump UnitedHealthCare 2016 Medtronic test strips United Healthcare Source Type: blogs
Why I'm Not (Yet) Supporting #MyPumpChoice
This week, there was a bit of a brew-ha-ha over the joint announcement [see HERE for the news] from United Healthcare (the largest for-profit healthcare insurer in the U.S.) and Medtronic over insulin pump coverage, specifically that United Healthcare had chosen Medtronic to be the company's "preferred" insulin pump supplier, hence other pump and pump supply brands like Roche, Tandem or Animas would generally not be covered. Yes, they buried it on page 7 and kind of did it on the down low which was sleazy, kind of like banks do with changes in terms to credit cards or new fees being added on your checking accoun...
Source: Scott's Web Log - May 5, 2016 Category: Endocrinology Tags: insulin pump UnitedHealthCare 2016 Medtronic test strips United Healthcare Source Type: blogs
Calling the CEO's Office Yet Again
What a difference a year makes! & nbsp;Last year, I ' d written (see my post at < a href= " http://goo.gl/ST6wtC " target= " _blank " > http://goo.gl/ST6wtC < /a > to read the first on this ongoing saga) about a lengthy delay in getting the blood glucose test strips my doctor prescribed for me. & nbsp;Ultimately, I ended up getting what I needed by calling Executive Office Complaints (e.g. the CEO ' s office). & nbsp;Yet in spite of Aetna receiving approval from various state insurance regulatory agencies to acquire Humana (including the largest state Humana operates in, Florida), Aetna (like all for-profit insurance com...
Source: Scott's Web Log - February 18, 2016 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2016 Aetna customer service insurance mail-order pharmacy Source Type: blogs
Calling the CEO's Office Yet Again
What a difference a year makes! Last year, I'd written (see my post at http://goo.gl/ST6wtC to read the first on this ongoing saga) about a lengthy delay in getting the blood glucose test strips my doctor prescribed for me. Ultimately, I ended up getting what I needed by calling Executive Office Complaints (e.g. the CEO's office). Yet in spite of Aetna receiving approval from various state insurance regulatory agencies to acquire Humana (including the largest state Humana operates in, Florida), Aetna (like all for-profit insurance companies) decided that saving a few bucks in pharmacy benefits was worth t...
Source: Scott's Web Log - February 18, 2016 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2016 Aetna customer service insurance mail-order pharmacy Source Type: blogs
Just Who Is JDRF Therapeutic Ventures, LLC? Why is it such a secret?
You might not have realized it, but a few years ago, the folks at JDRF secretly (it wasn't generally publicized, although some organization bigwigs, board members, etc. knew about it) established a legally separate organization to handle their industry partnerships which is legally organized as an LLC rather than a non-profit organization. This enables the JDRF to not have to disclose much detail in the nonprofit's 990 tax returns which are subject to more scrutiny from just about anyone, as the tax returns for the nonprofit must be disclosed to the public. Some this quite beneficial and perhaps even useful, as...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 27, 2016 Category: Endocrinology Tags: industry partnerships JDRF JDRF Therapeutic Ventures LLC nonprofits Source Type: blogs
My Evolution and D-Blogging
A few years ago, I announced kind of a break from diabetes blogging. At the time, I felt I’d gotten what I wanted to from it, and I even started an unrelated blog (which is still out there) on retro pop culture. I still update that blog every so often, but it’s certainly not regularly, mainly when I’m motivated to do something. Most of my diabetes-related social media activity is on my Twitter feed these days. That’s still very much alive and well, no thanks to Google’s effort to kill RSS in favor of proprietary APIs similar to what Facebook was doing. That effort failed spectacularly, and now, Google Plus is...
Source: Scott's Web Log - May 27, 2015 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2015 blog evolution co-housing. next phase cohousing marriage Source Type: blogs
Type 1 Diabetes Autoimmunity Makes News
Back in 2012, Novo Nordisk made headlines (whether deservedly or not) for establishing a Seattle research center (see the press release at http://prn.to/1OAukdP for more detail) to focus on autoimmunity that is the core reason type 1 diabetes occurs. Truth be told, there were never more than twenty researchers at this facility, although the company did manage to sign such prominent type 1 diabetes immunologists as Matthias von Herrath whose primary work actually takes place in San Diego at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI), a non-profit research institute founded in 1988 that focuses on the u...
Source: Scott's Web Log - March 26, 2015 Category: Endocrinology Tags: AstraZeneca Autoimmunity Douglas Melton Novo Nordisk Source Type: blogs
People With Diabetes Should Re-Appropriate the Term " Diabetic " (noun)
< div > In December, DiabetesMine ran a post entitled " < a href= " http://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/using-diabetic-versus-person-with-diabetes-does-it-matter " target= " _blank " > Using ' Diabetic ' vs. ' Person with Diabetes ' - Does It Matter? < /a > " . & nbsp;It got me to thinking about the term " diabetic " as a noun and how outdated it is, but it also raised the question in my mind as to whether its really worth getting upset over. < /div > < div > < br / > < /div > < div > Back in 1998, the late Deb Butterfield grappled with the issue of political correctness and the outdated term " diabetic " used as a...
Source: Scott's Web Log - February 22, 2015 Category: Endocrinology Tags: Deb Butterfield 2015 diabetic PWD Source Type: blogs
People With Diabetes Should Re-Appropriate the Term "Diabetic" (noun)
In December, DiabetesMine ran a post entitled "Using 'Diabetic' vs. 'Person with Diabetes' - Does It Matter?". It got me to thinking about the term "diabetic" as a noun and how outdated it is, but it also raised the question in my mind as to whether its really worth getting upset over.Back in 1998, the late Deb Butterfield grappled with the issue of political correctness and the outdated term "diabetic" used as a noun (See http://ow.ly/Jrm66 for the article she wrote). Deb wrote "... if it's all right with you, may we take it for granted that we are all people and divide by that common denominator? May we descr...
Source: Scott's Web Log - February 22, 2015 Category: Endocrinology Tags: Deb Butterfield 2015 diabetic PWD Source Type: blogs
2014 Observations in Type 1 Diabetes Treatments
Happy 2015! Its no secret that I don’t blog like I once did, and the fact that I'm posting twice this month isn't necessarily a sign that is changing. It’s not like I’ve disappeared (I still have a very active Twitter feed), but Google tried its best to kill blogs when it shut Google Reader down (that failed; I’m still using a different reader known as G2Reader which I think is a damn close replacement and they have a mobile app for Android, but nothing for Apple, sorry iPhone junkies), but many other people have basically given up on a truly open internet with the likes of RSS readers which paved the way to...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 20, 2015 Category: Endocrinology Tags: DiaPep 277 2015 Andromeda Aventis FDA. Sanofi Hyperion JDRF Medtronic Minimed Sanofi-Aventis Source Type: blogs
When All Else Fails, Call the CEO's Office at Your Insurance Co.
I make no secret about it: I test my blood sugar a LOT. & nbsp;Hypoglycemia unawareness is a big reason for this, but its also how my HbA1c ' s are as excellent as they are. & nbsp;Insurance companies would like to limit how many you can use because its a big expense line for them. & nbsp;But I look at it this way: one trip to the Emergency Room for a hypo I couldn ' t tell was happening would erase any savings they got for denial of a few test strips. & nbsp;Over the years, I ' ve had a number of different insurance companies, including United Healthcare, Wellpoint/Anthem, EmblemHealth of New York and Aetna. & nbsp;I cann...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 19, 2015 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2015 Aetna CEO customer service mail-order pharmacy Source Type: blogs
When All Else Fails, Call the CEO's Office at Your Insurance Co.
I make no secret about it: I test my blood sugar a LOT. Hypoglycemia unawareness is a big reason for this, but its also how my HbA1c's are as excellent as they are. Insurance companies would like to limit how many you can use because its a big expense line for them. But I look at it this way: one trip to the Emergency Room for a hypo I couldn't tell was happening would erase any savings they got for denial of a few test strips. Over the years, I've had a number of different insurance companies, including United Healthcare, Wellpoint/Anthem, EmblemHealth of New York and Aetna. I cannot say enou...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 19, 2015 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2015 Aetna CEO customer service mail-order pharmacy Source Type: blogs
Upcoming 11/3/2014 FDA-DOC Meeting; Concerns About FDA Biosimilar Guidance(s)
At this point, I don't think its really necessary for me to repeat too much of the content that is already circulating within the diabetes online community of blogs about the forthcoming Monday, November 3, 2014 meeting from 1:00 pm-4:00 pm ET with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But I WILL say that collectively, over the past year, the diabetes patient community was able to accomplish something truly quite extraordinary. You should know about that, and even better, you also have a chance to participate in that!Specifically, in 2013, the diabetes online community started a petition (see http:...
Source: Scott's Web Log - October 20, 2014 Category: Endocrinology Tags: biogenerics Biosimilar diatribe FDA hypoglycemia Lantus Lilly Sanofi Source Type: blogs
