Scott Strumello's Blog (47)

More on Islet Regeneration

A decade ago, there was a lot of excitement about INGAP (which stands for Islet Neogenesis Associated Protein), but for a variety of different reasons, much of that excitement disappeared to the point where many new patients or parents of children with type 1 diabetes really know little about this promising potential treatment, even though many diabetes veterans view all regeneration efforts -- including Denise Faustman's -- as having a number of similarities.

Back in March, I wrote… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on July 30, 2008 at 5:42am — 2 Comments

Is this any way to run a regulatory agency?

The Associated Press recently featured a story on my subject for today which began as follows: "When a state trooper pulls over a speeding motorist, the officer usually writes out a ticket on the spot."

However, when federal regulators catch a pharmaceutical company marketing prescription medications for an "unapproved" use, it typically takes the U.S. ~~Fatal~~Food and Drug Administration (FDA)… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on July 28, 2008 at 9:30am — 3 Comments

Lavish FDA Bonuses Go to Bureaucrats, Not Scientists

You'd think the U.S. ~~Fatal~~Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would be on the mend. After all, last December, The New York Times reported that the FDA is desperately short of money and poorly organized, which is putting people's lives at risk. A report entitled… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on July 11, 2008 at 7:30am — No Comments

Unbiased Medical Advice?

First of all, a hat tip to Peter Rost, as the physician and former drug marketer for Pfizer turned whistle-blower and blogger featured this story on his blog late last week.

At issue is something Americans, and perhaps too often, patients with diabetes fail to consider, and that is when their doctor(s) recommend the latest and greatest new drug, insulin, device or other… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on July 1, 2008 at 6:30pm — No Comments

New Healthcare Plans and Our Dysfunctional Medical System ... Urgh!

Sooner or later, I suspect that almost everyone is impacted by the rising cost of healthcare. The U.S. has an estimated 47 million uninsured, and a large number of underinsured people. In fact, Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers recently released a 50-state survey, which revealed that insurance companies in most states are not prohibited from denying health coverage to people with… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on June 16, 2008 at 11:30am — 2 Comments

ADA Scientific Sessions-Coming Soon: Humalog Plus?

This past weekend, the American Diabetes Association's 68th Annual Scientific Sessions began in San Francisco and today (Weds., June 10, 2008) they end. The press releases and reporters were on overdrive, largely releasing the same, recycled stories containing tidbits from the ill-fated type 2 studies which also investigated cardiovascular disease -- even though that news came out months ago. Nevertheless, there were a handful of interesting findings revealed in these sessions, although I…

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Added by Scott Strumello on June 10, 2008 at 9:30am — 3 Comments

The ADA's Silence Is Deafening

It seems that almost every month, we hear yet another news story about problems at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Last December, even an internal report produced by the FDA itself entitled "FDA Science and Mission at Risk" (which can also be found at the Food and Drug Administration's… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on May 13, 2008 at 9:30am — 1 Comment

Previewing "Life for a Child" Film at Tribeca Film Festival

This evening, I've been invited (along with Allison and Kerri, although I believe some others were invited but were unable to attend) to attend the "Life for a Child" documentary film being screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on April 24, 2008 at 7:00am — No Comments

Why A Recent FDA Decision Should Have You Concerned

Today, the Boston Globe reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected Genzyme Corp.'s request for permission to sell in the U.S. a version of its Pompe disease (a rare inherited and… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on April 22, 2008 at 11:00am — 1 Comment

My Spin on Type 1 Diabetes Awareness Day

Today is Type 1 Diabetes Awareness Day, and while there are likely to be dozens of blog postings on this subject today, I am never one to follow convention with more of the same, so I've chosen to acknowledge this day without being redundant.

What are the origins of this day? Well, because "diabetes" is a generic term that describes the symptoms of a… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on April 14, 2008 at 6:00am — No Comments

Perceptions vs. Reality

Sometimes, there are works that stand the test of time better than others. In the case of diabetes writing, Deb Butterfield, author of "Showdown With Diabetes" wrote the following article in 1992, yet it feels that her words were never more true than they are today. Have a look and see if you agree!

Perceptions vs. Reality

By Deb Butterfield

Original URL for this article:…

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Added by Scott Strumello on April 10, 2008 at 6:00am — 6 Comments

Surprise: INGAP Moves Ahead!

Remember INGAP? Well, the quick overview is that INGAP stands for Islet Neogenesis Associated Protein. I noted it in a posting back in January when I reported that researchers at the University of Florida had announced findings from a study involving the use of proteins as a potential therapy for type 1 diabetes which accomplished something remarkably similar to INGAP -- in their case,… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on March 19, 2008 at 10:30am — 1 Comment

Another Inhaled Insulin Dies ... Who's to Blame?

Today, it looks like Eli Lilly and Company's AIR inhaled insulin product has been killed. This follows Pfizer's Exubera disaster, and Novo Nordisk's announcement that they were pulling the plug on its AERx iDMS inhaled insulin product.

But what makes this… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on March 7, 2008 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Holy Crap! 40 lbs. (18 kg) of Glucose on the Cheap

Last year, my employer promised to implement flexible spending accounts and some other benefits (such as an optional dental plan, paid for pre-tax dollars, naturally). The deadline for enrollment was this week. To prepare, I spent a fair amount of time analyzing my various co-pays to doctors, pharmacies, as well as expenses paid for glasses/contact lenses and a host of other out-of-pocket expenses related to diabetes so I could accurately estimate how much of my pre-tax income I should… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on February 22, 2008 at 7:30am — 8 Comments

Are You Using Hospira Humalog® Without Knowing It?

On Monday, I posted that some brand-name insulin manufacturers have been deceiving patients by slapping their brand-names on insulin made by third-party manufacturers. Since 2003 at least, Lilly has had FDA…

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Added by Scott Strumello on February 13, 2008 at 5:30pm — 1 Comment

Competition in Patents for "SmartInsulin"?

As my readers know, I think one of the most promising developments in terms of treating patients with type 1 diabetes is the concept of "SmartInsulin". The concept is simple enough (relatively speaking, of course): the SmartInsulin would be injected into a depot under the skin, just as all insulin is injected presently. But instead of the insulin all working at the same time, it would be released into the bloodstream only when glucose… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on February 9, 2008 at 4:08pm — 1 Comment

Novo's AERx® Inhaled Insulin Also Bites the Bong

Wow! Just a few years ago, many on Wall Street were convinced that Pfizer's Exubera was going to be a surefire blockbuster. We all know how that turned out (see here for my chronicling of that business debacle).

More recently, the worldwide insulin market leader, Novo Nordisk A/S has tried to temper expectations for their own inhaled insulin product, which the company… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on January 14, 2008 at 3:06pm — No Comments

Big Pharma Reading Political Tea Leaves and Increasingly, Sees Democrats. Does It Matter?

With the Iowa Caucuses a mere few days away, and the New Hampshire primaries to follow shortly thereafter, I thought it might be interesting to see what the U.S. pharmaceutical industry thinks about the 2008 election. The real question is whether it even matters? I cannot answer that question today, but I can provide some perspective on what the American drug industry is thinking.

The pharmaceutical and health-products industry has spent more on… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on December 27, 2007 at 7:32pm — No Comments

American Cancer Society's Effort Could Also Benefit Diabetes

Can the American Cancer Society's marketing efforts benefit people with

diabetes? We may find out next year. In what was arguably one of the

biggest news stories in the nonprofit arena recently, The New York Times is reporting

that next year, the American Cancer… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on August 31, 2007 at 6:19pm — No Comments

Why We Need A Cardiovascular Risk Model Exclusively For Type 1 Diabetes

I published this post last October on my personal blog (see here for details), but it seems that today, a number of bloggers have jumped on the bandwagon due to The New York Times article published in this morning's edition entitled "… Continue

Added by Scott Strumello on August 20, 2007 at 8:54am — No Comments

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From the Diabetes Hands Foundation blog...

Together, We Can Get Diabetes Co-Stars to 10,000 Views!

Above is a photo of Diabetes Hands Foundation’s own Manny Hernandez with the stars of the Diabetes Co-Stars Video, “Strength in Numbers.” In case you haven’t heard the news yet, there is a new video making it’s way through the …
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Congratulations Diabetes Advocates Scholarship Recipients!

The Diabetes Hands Foundation and Diabetes Advocates Program is proud to announce and congratulate the members of DA who were granted scholarships to attend diabetes conferences in 2013! Thanks to a generous grant from Novo Nordisk, in 2013 we were …
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