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Congressional Caucus Showcases Diabetes Care Technology

Members of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus met with 5 diabetes advocacy and professional organizations and 20 medical technology companies to showcase how medical innovation is revolutionizing diabetes care.

A white paper released by the caucus notes that the direct and indirect costs of diabetes reach about $132 billion in the United States, but that the tools to reduce the burden of the disease are in hand.

"Collectively, diabetes is a matter of public policy," said Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.), whose 8-year-old son has type 1 diabetes. "It's in America's best interest to find a cure as soon as possible."

Until a cure is realized, the key to diabetes management includes monitoring blood glucose, managing diet and physical activity, monitoring cardiovascular disease and other comorbidities, and administering insulin as needed.

The role of Congress in the fight against diabetes is to "support research, help find better medicines and equipment to help those with diabetes," said Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.).

Diabetes "affects so many Americans, and it's a manageable disease," said Becerra. "It's a sin for Congress not to try to do more to prevent it from being the killer disease that it is."

Representing a predominantly Latino community in Los Angeles, Becerra noted that diabetes disproportionally affects his family and constituents. "I have several relatives that have had very difficult and tragic experiences, so it's pretty close to my family," he said. "Diabetes is extremely high in the Latino community."

In the ornate caucus room of the Cannon House Office Building, representatives from Bayer, Medtronic, Norvo Nordisk, and several other companies demonstrated monitors, treatments for skin ulcers, and other technologies to reduce the risk and impact of diabetes.

"Any time you can come to Washington, showcase some of the innovative technology being used to keep [diabetes] under control or reduce the risk, we should be taking a look," said Becerra.

The event was cosponsored by the Advanced Medical Technology Association, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the American Association of Diabetes Educators, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, and the American Diabetes Association.

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Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Goldfarb, B. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Goldfarb, B. Social Bookmarking                What's this?