Diabetes

ATLANTA — According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Wednesday, young people with diabetes face substantially higher medical costs than children and teens without the disease. The study found annual medical expenses for youth with diabetes were $9,061, compared with $1,468 for youth without the disease.

SALT LAKE CITY — One of the basic functions of humor is to make people feel better about difficult situations. A group of software developers has incorporated that idea into a new app for Apple iPhones, iPods and iPads for people living with diabetes.

The app, called “Shot in the Arm,” made by Nashsmile, delivers brief and simple diabetes management advice, as well as humor — for example, ways to handle an insulin reaction and jokes, such as “Whoever said ‘no man is an island’ has never seen my stomach in the bath tub.”

INDIANAPOLIS — Drug maker Eli Lilly will get at least two more years of patent exclusivity on a drug used to treat depression, anxiety and pain resulting from diabetic neuropathy and fibromyalgia, thanks to a court order issued Wednesday.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana ruled to forbid Wockhardt and other generic drug companies from selling generic versions of Cymbalta (duloxetine hydrochloride) until patent protection expires, which is expected to occur in June 2013.

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — Northeast supermarket chain Price Chopper will expand several of its health-and-wellness programs to combat diabetes as part of its participation in the American Pharmacists Association Foundation’s Project Impact: Diabetes initiative, the chain said.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Diabetes patients who adhere to their medication therapies have a significantly lower risk of hospitalization, according to a new study scheduled for presentation this week at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s 23rd annual meeting and showcase in Minneapolis.

The study, conducted by pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics using data from more than 15,000 patients, found that medication adherence among diabetes patients cut the risk of hospitalization by 31%, compared with patients who were not compliant.

CVS/pharmacy is taking its focus on preventive care to the streets with its 2011 To Your Health program, staging more than 800 events around the country and screening patients for diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, bone density and vision. Each To Your Health event offers customers access to as much as $150 worth of health screenings, as well as medical reviews with CVS pharmacists; consultations with doctors; dental and chiropractic screenings; and referrals for mammograms and pap smears in certain locations.


Health and wellness is a major focus for grocer Albertsons, and that also holds true for its youngest of customers. 


Enter Healthy Kidz Club. 


Comparison shopping across blood-glucose meters couldn’t be easier than at Walgreens. Pictured here at a store just outside of Baltimore, customers can hold and feel the individual monitors and review individual bullet points as part of this pull-box display. Located just outside the pharmacy waiting area, the display also is ideal for quick and easy pharmacist recommendations.