The purpose of this page is to provide coverage of breaking or important news and information for the diabetes professional. There is no scheduled update and the urgency or importance of the items presented here will always be a 'judgement call'.
Joan Stollberger, RD, CDE shared the information below at a Diabetes Resource Coalition of Long Island meeting, which was held recently: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
S.1161 Sen Jeff Bingaman's bill which would give Medicare (CMS) the authority to expand the Medical Nutrition Therapy(MNT) benefit to any disease state they deem it would help. This would encompass pre-diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc. Right now only Diabetes and Renal disease are coverd. This Medicare Medical Nutrition Therapy Act is designed to give CMS the authority to expand MNT to any disease or condition using a "necessary and reasonable" test. Right now a new bill needs to be passed (House and Senate) every time a new condition is considered for coverage.
This bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Introduced bills go first to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills never make it out of committee. Keep in mind that sometimes the text of one bill is incorporated into another bill, and in those cases the original bill, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned. [Last Updated: Jan 27, 2008]
In Congress, Rep. Diana DeGette is introducing a bill to specifically add prediabetes to the current MNT coverage under Medicare. It is to be called the "Preventing Diabetes in Medicare Act of 2007". No number was yet assigned to this bill but your Congressional offices can access this information as soon as it is assigned under the name Rep. Diana DeGette.
S. 755 The Diabetes Screening and Medicaid Savings Act - Sen Charles Schumer's(D) NY bill which would require state Medicaid programs to cover the screening and treatment (including MNT) of diabetes. Many states already cover diabetes screening and treatment as part of their state plan, but there is no federal requirement that it be covered. Schumer's bill would require states to cover MNT provided by a registered dietitian be part of their Medicaid coverage.
This bill is in the first step in the legislative process. Introduced bills go first to committees that deliberate, investigate, and revise them before they go to general debate. The majority of bills never make it out of committee. Keep in mind that sometimes the text of one bill is incorporated into another bill, and in those cases the original bill, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned. [Last Updated: Jan 27, 2008]
By the way, the current benefit is 3 hours of MNT in the first year of diagnosis of diabetes or renal disease. It's not a lot of time but it gets people started in the right direction.
Please call your Senate and Congressional offices and ask them to support these bills which will come up for vote in the next few weeks. If you don't know who your Congressman is, email me, I have a list handy or you can get it online.
Below are some extracts from that web page. They were brought to our attention by Lorena Drago, RD,MA,CDN,CDE, the MNYADE President Elect.
Abilify (aripiprazole) Audience: Neuropsychiatric healthcare professionals FDA and Bristol-Myers Squibb notified healthcare professionals of revision to the WARNINGS section of labeling, describing the risk of hyperglycemia and diabetes in patients taking Abilify. FDA asked all manufacturers of atypical antipsychotic medications, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, to add this Warning statement to labeling.
[March 25, 2004 Letter - FDA]
Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) Audience: Neuropsychiatric healthcare professionals FDA and AstraZeneca notified healthcare professionals of revision to the WARNINGS section of labeling, describing the increased risk of hyperglycemia and diabetes in patients taking Seroquel. FDA has asked all manufacturers of atypical antipsychotic medications, including AstraZeneca, to add this Warning statement to labeling.
[January 30, 2004 Letter - AstraZeneca LP]
Clozaril (clozapine) Audience: Neuropsychiatric healthcare professionals FDA and Novartis notified healthcare professionals of revision to the WARNINGS section of labeling, describing the increased risk of hyperglycemia and diabetes in patients taking Clozaril. FDA has asked all manufacturers of atypical antipsychotic medications, including Novartis, to add this Warning statement to labeling.
o Another medication in this class is showing even more incidents of hypergyglycemia. This medication is Zyprexa. Here at our hospital we are starting to take baseline BG reading before starting these agents and follow-up with routine testing. Richard Arena, R. Ph., Ph.D., CDM
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Study Finds Diabetes will Double in World by 2030 The number of people with diabetes worldwide will continue to increase at record levels through 2030, with the greatest relative increase in prevalence expected in the Middle Eastern Crescent, sub-Saharan Africa and India, according to a study published in the May issue of Diabetes Care. Researchers predict the number of people with diabetes globally will actually double over the next three decades and that the United States will experience a far more rapid increase than previously expected. "The human and economic costs of this epidemic are enormous," concluded the researchers, from the World Health Organization and universities in Scotland, Denmark, Australia. "A concerted, global initiative is required to address the diabetes epidemic." Learn more>>
Lag in Disease Prevention Funding Costs Lives Even as federal officials warn of spiraling rates of obesity, asthma, and diabetes, opportunities to save thousands of lives a year are being missed because disease prevention programs are under funded, public health experts say. An unpublicized analysis by Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that "robust" funding could:
Prevent 43,000 amputations, 165,000 kidney failures and more than 10,000 cases of eye disease among diabetics each year
Reduce traffic deaths by 9,000 annually
Halve the 40,000 new HIV cases that occur each year
Vascular Inflammation Tied to Diabetes, Heart Disease Inflammation that prevents blood vessels from dilating properly could be the link between type 2 diabetes and heart disease, researchers report today in The Journal of the American Medical Association. If more research confirms these findings, lead researcher JoAnn Manson says, blood tests to detect markers for inflammation might help screen people at risk for type 2 diabetes. Cholesterol-lowering statins and blood pressure drugs called ACE-inhibitors may also be useful, she says. "If medications can decrease this vascular inflammation and lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, that's a new avenue for treatment." Learn more>>
