dLife's Top 10 Diabetes Disappointments for 2006

dLife's Top 10 Diabetes Disappointments for 2006

WESTPORT, Conn., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- What do the President, stem cell research, a quadruple cheeseburger, and the IRS have in common? Well, when it comes to the diabetes epidemic, they all made dLife's Top 10 Diabetes Disappointments for 2006. dLife, a multimedia platform that informs, inspires, and connects the diabetes community through television, radio, web, and print programming, today announced its list of those who, when it comes to diabetes, are one big disappointment. "National Diabetes Month is the perfect time to highlight those who we feel could use a little diabetes education to turn their disappointments into accomplishments," stated dLife Founder and CEO Howard Steinberg, "There are now over 21 million Americans living with diabetes -- and the numbers continue to grow. Our goal with this list was to motivate those who can help serve this population and turn the epidemic around."

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060531/NYW031LOGO-d )

1. Medicare Part D Program. A poorly planned benefit roll-out by The
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and a critical failure of
the system to recognize "dual-eligible" participants resulted in
millions of poor and elderly Americans losing access to needed
medications. Add in the huge coverage gap "donut hole" and the
confusion of evaluating dozens of competing private plans, each with a
different drug formulary, and Medicare gets a "D" for effort. Poor
planning on caring for our seniors, 20% of which have diabetes.

2. The President, Senate, and Congress for their handling of stem cell
research and the art of arguing the argument and not looking for
viable solutions that would satisfy both sides of the discussion and
move the much-needed solution forward. Snow Flake Children?
What the ... ???

3. The Internal Revenue Service for denying an employee a promotion
because he had type 1 diabetes. Happily, the employee took the IRS to
court and won, receiving his promotion and $78,000 in back pay. Was
he then taxed on the settlement?

4. Fraudulent Diabetes Suppliers. We would like to list every seller of
false "cures" and counterfeit test strips, but the list is simply too
long. Reaching a new all-time low in taking advantage of the less
fortunate, these money-hungry pirates need to understand that their
stunts not only bilk people out of their money, they could also have
fatal results

5. Burger King. Jeff Novick, director of nutrition for the Pritikin
Longevity Center called it the "quadruple-bypass special." Burger King
said they were simply giving the public what it wants. We say,
"You're on the list, Burger King." This summer, the fast food chain
released their "Quad Stacker" option, consisting of four slabs of
beef, four slices of cheese, and up to eight slices of bacon. Enjoy
that scrumptious 1,000 calories as you slurp down more than one-and-a-
half times the saturated fat that an adult should consume in one
entire day...why not just roll in a wheel barrel and let people jump
in and eat themselves to obesity?

6. Senators Enzi, Nelson, and Burns on introducing The Health Insurance
Market Place Modernization and Affordability Act, commonly called
Senate Bill S. 1955. Forty-six states have laws on the books
requiring insurers of state-regulated health plans to provide adequate
care for people with diabetes, and Bill S. 1955 put the state mandates
in question. The bill was a turkey and so were those who supported
it.

7. The London Olympic Organizing Committee for giving the food contract
for the 2012 Olympic Games to McDonalds. In as clearly as McDonald's
is making strides in "bettering" their menu and offering grants to
resolve bad eating habits -- it's way too early to award them this
gold medal. Olympics are the torch bearer for healthy ... Mickey Ds
should prove themselves first.

8. Robert Parsons of St. Johns, Newfoundland who pulled a "diabetes
defense" in an attempt to absolve himself of responsibility for
causing a fatal car crash that took the life of a 15-year-old boy.
Parsons claimed a sugar-related diabetic blackout. Fortunately, the
judge rejected his claim which if legitimized might have done long-
term damage to the reputations and legal rights of millions of men and
women with diabetes. 'Nuff said.

9. The Diabetes Caucus. One of the largest caucuses in Washington
remained mute on Bill S. 1955 (see #6, above). This Act would exempt
many new health plans from critical state laws and regulations,
thereby gutting existing consumer protections and coverage
requirements. When asked about it, by dLife stated, " ... the House
Diabetes Caucus does not take positions on general legislation such as
S. 1955 ... " which is contradictory to the stance of their own
website (http://www.house.gov/degette/diabetes/index.html). dLife
asks what ARE you there for?

10. Town Sports International for its policy of discriminating against
children with diabetes. When a six-year-old girl was kicked out of
the Boston Sports Club summer camp because of her diabetes, the
parents sued and won. On top of a financial settlement, the club has
agreed to end their policy of discriminating against children with
diabetes. What were they thinking?

dLifeTV is the first and only national weekly lifestyle series devoted to living with diabetes and http://www.dlife.com/ is the largest independent website with diabetes information. The dLife.com Viewing Room of original streaming video content offers unique and entertaining diabetes information for people with diabetes, with prediabetes, or who have a family member with diabetes. dLife, the first and only multimedia platform for diabetes information, inspiration, and connection, is produced by LifeMed Media. dLifeTV airs every Sunday evening on CNBC at 7:00PM ET, 6:00PM CT, and 4:00PM PT. dLifeRadio is also heard around the country on XM satellite radio.

Press Contact:
Tom Karlya
dLife
203.221.3453
karlya@dlife.com

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060531/NYW031LOGO-d
Source: dLife

CONTACT: Tom Karlya, dLife, +1-203-221-3453, karlya@dlife.com

Web site: http://www.dlife.com/

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