OneZero: A Black Market for Life-Saving Insulin Thrives on Social Media. “Insulin is an essential and life-saving drug used by 7.4 million people in the United States. Over the last few years, it’s become increasingly expensive. Between 2012 and 2016, the price of insulin effectively doubled for people with type one diabetes, with costs jumping from $239 to $475 per month, on average. These controversial and dramatic price hikes, singled out by presidential candidates like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have become symbols of a failing American healthcare system. They have also created a thriving online black market for insulin.”
diabetes
Techdirt: Abbott Laboratories Sends Heavy-Handed Copyright Threat To Shut Down Diabetes Community Tool For Accessing Blood-Sugar Data
Techdirt: Abbott Laboratories Sends Heavy-Handed Copyright Threat To Shut Down Diabetes Community Tool For Accessing Blood-Sugar Data. “A few months back there was a post on Diabettech about some code posted to GitHub. A patch to Abbott Laboratories’ LibreLink app allowed data from the same company’s FreeStyle Libre continuous monitor to be accessed by other apps running on a smartphone. In particular, it enabled the blood-sugar data to be used by a program called xDrip, which provides ‘sophisticated charting, customization and data entry features as well as a predictive simulation model.’ Innocent enough, you might think. But not according to Abbott Laboratories, which sent in the legal heavies waving the DMCA.” Heaven forbid people get as much access to and use of their own personal medical information as possible. Pllbbt.
The Register: Scumbags can program vulnerable MedTronic insulin pumps over the air to murder diabetics – insecure kit recalled
The Register: Scumbags can program vulnerable MedTronic insulin pumps over the air to murder diabetics – insecure kit recalled. “Health implant maker MedTronic is recalling some of its insulin pumps following the discovery of security vulnerabilities in the equipment that can be exploited over the air to hijack them.”
Newswise: Facebook Posts Better at Predicting Diabetes, Mental Health Than Demographic Info
Newswise: Facebook Posts Better at Predicting Diabetes, Mental Health Than Demographic Info. “Language in Facebook posts may help identify conditions such as diabetes, anxiety, depression and psychosis in patients, according to a study from Penn Medicine and Stony Brook University researchers. It’s believed that language in posts could be indicators of disease and, with patient consent, could be monitored just like physical symptoms. This study was published in PLOS ONE.”
Business Wire: T1D Exchange Launches Online Registry to Drive Type 1 Diabetes Research (PRESS RELEASE)
Business Wire: T1D Exchange Launches Online Registry to Drive Type 1 Diabetes Research (PRESS RELEASE). “T1D Exchange today announced the official launch of the T1D Exchange Registry, an online longitudinal database of people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D). This pioneering effort provides a mobile-friendly platform for people throughout the U.S. to participate online and share information about their T1D in order to help researchers develop more targeted and effective approaches to treating and living with the disease. The effort may also help inform reimbursement and policy decisions.”
Saving sight: Using AI to diagnose diabetic eye disease (EurekAlert)
EurekAlert: Saving sight: Using AI to diagnose diabetic eye disease . “Researchers have used artificial intelligence to support the instant diagnosis of one of the top causes of blindness, diabetes-related eye disease, in its earliest stages.”
CNET: Google sister company puts glucose-sensing contact lenses on hold
CNET: Google sister company puts glucose-sensing contact lenses on hold. “Alphabet’s life sciences arm, Verily, is putting a hold on its work with glucose-sensing contact lenses, Chief Technical Officer Brian Otis said in a blog post Friday.”
