Diabetes Connect - new resource for Diabetics Check out Anti-Family Medicine

[Guest guest]

I received an

e-mail blast from the ACOFP touting this wonderful new resource for my diabetic

patients (It appears to have been around for some time as there are posts at

least a year old on this site). I had heard about it yesterday on Good

Morning America and on CNN Health Matters Show so I thought it was something

new. This is put out by someone called Alliance Health Network which is a

front I think for Sanofi Aventis and other manufacturers of diabetic

meds. It is supposed to be a “social network site for diabetics

without commercial bias” according to their mission statement on their website.

It is supposed to provide a way for diabetics to share information about their

disease. OK good idea right??? There are Blogs about Diabetes written

by what the site calls diabetes patient advocate educators. I clicked on

the posting by one such advocate and I got real pissed real quick. The

following is a post on whether a specialist is necessary:

When people are first diagnosed with diabetes – or often

even if they’ve had it for a while – they’re not really clear

on what kind of doctor they should be seeing. Insurance companies often supply

you with a laundry list of doctors covered in your network, but where do you go

from there?

Is a family doctor or primary care physician (PCP) sufficient to

help with this complicated condition? That really depends on whether the

“general doctor” in question is up-to-date on the latest diabetes

treatments and methods – like newer drugs on the market and a measured,

step-by-step approach to improving your blood glucose control (instead of

throwing 9 goals at you all at once and expecting miracles).

For these reasons, most diabetics are better off seeing an

endocrinologist – a doctor specializing in endocrine gland disorders,

including the pancreas, the cause of diabetes. A diabetologist is even more

specialized: an endocrinologist who focuses solely on diabetes (tip -

they’re often hard to find except at very large clinics and

universities).

An endocrinologist is your best bet because:

1.

It is their job to be up-to-date on diabetes treatments. They

are regularly visited by drug company representatives who educate them and

provide samples.

2.

They see lots of diabetes patients, so have a frame of reference

for what you are experiencing and what treatments might fit you best.

3.

They often work closely with certified diabetes educators

(CDEs), insulin pump educators or nutritionists – sometimes in-house

right in their practice – so you’ll have access to all those

resources as well.

4.

They’re very aware of – and usually proactive about

– ordering the basic lab tests that every diabetic should have and

monitor on a regular basis: A1C, blood pressure, cholesterol tests,

microalbumin test for kidney damage, and annual eye exam. (See this link for my

guidebook on those tests: http://www.tinyurl.com/knowyournumbers

)

I take major

exception to the contention in this “diabetic resource” which

basically claims I, as a family physician, am no better than a bumbling idiot

and that my patients with diabetes need to find an endocrinologist fast because

as a family physician in a small office I am so educationally challenged and

behind the times that I can’t manage my patient’s diabetes.

We need to stand-up against this type of unfounded family practice slamming.

I sent an objection to the

contention that as a family doctor I am not able to appropriately manage my

patient’s diabetes. I thought maybe some of you that like to write

letters about injustices like this would be interested in getting involved in the

issue. The website for this “social network site for diabetics is www.diabetesconnect.com and the

contact information for Alliance Health Network is Alliance Health

Network 224 South 200 West Suite 250 Salt Lake City, UT 84601.

Beth Sullivan, DO

Ridgeway Family Practice

Commerce,

GA 30529