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Diabetes Foot Monitoring; Fake Ozempic Warning [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-12-27  

Those who have had amputations for diabetic foot ulcers are greatly at risk for more. Science can help, it turns out, simply by regular measurements of skin temperature. Don’t you love living in the future, as my friend arhpdx always says?

I’m nowhere near that far gone. I just monitor the tingling in my toes, which I can reduce with simple exercises to increase circulation. And I continue to use my waffle cushion, plus ointments and wide bandaids, for the one much less serious sore on my bottom.

And how are you in this holiday season?

VA’s remote temperature monitoring prevents diabetic limb loss VA’s remote temperature monitoring program encourages Veterans to use the Podimetrics SmartMat in their podiatry care. The mat can detect diabetic foot ulcers [DFUs] or other foot disorders as early as five weeks before they appear. Diabetes affects about one in four Veterans who receive VA care. For these Veterans, late-detected diabetic foot ulcers could lead to limb amputation. But they can avoid this by taking one simple step…onto an electronic mat each morning. If the mat detects an increase in temperature greater than 2.2 degrees Celsius at the same location of the foot for two consecutive days, Podimetrics notifies the Veteran and instructs them to check their feet for inflammation or swelling. If the temperature increase continues, Podimetrics alerts the Veteran’s VA podiatrist so they can begin care. Or, if you have any amount of neuropathy, you can just check your feet every day regardless. This is too new a product to be covered by Medicare. It costs $3,500. Some insurance may cover it. It’s a deal for the insurers, compared with paying for amputations and further care afterwards. Watch this space.

Independence Blue Cross and Podimetrics collaborate to prevent diabetic amputations Independence Blue Cross (Independence) and Podimetrics, a virtual care management company dedicated to preventing diabetic amputations, today announced an agreement for Podimetrics to remotely monitor Independence fully insured commercial members who have diabetes and a history of a diabetic foot ulcer with the use of the cellular-connected SmartMatTM. The SmartMat can detect warning signs of diabetic foot complications up to five weeks before they present clinically, allowing for early interventions to help prevent diabetic amputations. Diabetic amputations are one of the largest markers in health inequity, disproportionately affecting communities of color. The complication is three times more prevalent among African Americans. In addition, amputations cost the health care system up to $100,000 per amputation and carry a five-year mortality rate of 62 percent. “We’re proud to be the first health plan in the Philadelphia five-county region to work with Podimetrics on preventing diabetic foot complications and amputations. Our collaboration will positively impact our members’ mental and physical health and will help lower health care costs by preventing hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and outpatient or physician office visits,”said Dr. Rodrigo Cerdá, Vice President of Clinical Care Transformation at Independence. Accuracy of a foot temperature monitoring mat for predicting diabetic foot ulcers in patients with recent wounds or partial foot amputation Methods We completed a planned analysis of existing data from a recent study in 129 participants with a previously-healed diabetic foot ulcer. We considered four cohorts: all participants, participants with partial foot amputation, participants with a recent wound, and participants without partial foot amputation and without a recent wound. We reported the prediction specificity, lead time, and annualized alert frequency in each cohort at maximum sensitivity. We assessed the two potentially challenging cohorts for non-inferior accuracy relative to the control cohort using Delong’s method. Results We report non-inferior predictive accuracy in each of the two potentially-challenging cohorts relative to the control cohort (⍺ < 0.05). The alert lead time was similar across these cohorts, ranging from 33 to 42 days. Conclusions Once-daily foot temperature monitoring is no less accurate for predicting foot ulceration in those with recent wounds and partial foot amputations than in those without these complications. These results support expanded practice of once-daily foot temperature monitoring, which may result in improved patient outcomes and reduced healthcare resource utilization. Counterfeit Ozempic

Telegraph: US seizes thousands of units of counterfeit diabetes drug Ozempic used for weight loss

Consumers warned it may still be on sale at pharmacies and its safety is in doubt The FDA warned wholesalers, pharmacies and health care professionals to check for the serial number 430834149057 and to abstain from selling or using products with this number.

NPR: FDA says watch out for fake Ozempic, a diabetes drug used by many for weight loss

The FDA said it's "aware of five adverse events from this lot, none of which are serious and are consistent with known common adverse reactions to authentic Ozempic, which are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and constipation." The FDA is warning wholesalers, pharmacies, health care practitioners and patients alike to check their product labels for counterfeit units and report questionable products to the agency. Fakes are labeled with lot number NAR0074 and serial number 430834149057, it says.

Thanks, Brandon.

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