DrSN hosts Diabetes Roundtable
NEW YORK Drug Store News concluded its annual Issues Summit Tuesday with a two-hour Diabetes Roundtable featuring executives from across the retail pharmacy, pharmaceutical, food and personal care industries, moderated by Hamacher Resource Group vice president Dave Wendland.
The panel included Robb Ayshford, director of pharmacy administration for Sears and Kmart; Kaliroi Brodin, director of health and wellness services for Duane Reade; Timothy Canning, president of Health Mart; Christina Ellegood, director of diabetes care for Medicine Shoppe; Brian Hille, director of pharmacy care for Safeway; Neil Luckianow, director of United States trade sales and marketing for Bayer Diabetes Care; Leon Nevers, who heads business development and professional services for H-E-B; Dion Reimer, trade national account manager for Takeda; Rachel Sosalski, senior manager of trade operations for Novo Nordisk; and dental hygienist JoAnn Gurenlian.
Touching on issues ranging from the rise in Type 2 diabetes among adolescents to language barriers when dealing with non-English-speaking patients, the panelists agreed on the need for more education and coordination between suppliers and retailers.
Delivering the opening speech for the roundtable, nurse practitioner Jane Seley, a diabetes specialist at the New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center, said the United States healthcare industry has been slow to pick up insulin pens to treat diabetes, citing also a greater need to improve diabetes patients? adherence to medication regimens.
After Wendland introduced the panel, he talked about the recent rise in Type 2 diabetes among children and teenagers, a trend that diabetes experts have linked to poor nutrition and sedentary lifestyles. One obstacle to combating the epidemic is addressing the children themselves. Bayer Diabetes Care has enlisted the help of the rock band the Jonas Brothers, of whom the youngest, 16-year-old Nick Jonas, has diabetes.
"You really have to talk to them on their level," said Neil Luckianow, director of United States trade sales and marketing for Bayer Diabetes Care.
Joann Gurenlian, representing Colgate, addressed the often overlooked importance of dental health in diabetes care, noting that her company?s Total toothpaste fights gum disease, a complication of diabetes.
"If you improve your oral health, you improve your glycemic control,? Gurenlian said. ?And if you improve your glycemic control, you improve your oral health."