House Calls, a popular newsletter written by the prestigious Dr. Inglis, highlights a very important question in light of the Avandia mishap: how many other potential whistle-blowers are out there who have been silenced into submission before the Big Pharma vultures?

A medical expert testified that he agreed to sign a statement that was meant to appease the company's investors. This is not the type of behavior anyone should expect or dismiss of a doctor, entrusted with a patient's life. In his defense, he did forward a letter with his concerns to the FDA, which means they also were aware of the same threat. This same doctor is the President-elect for none other than the American Diabetes Association. Isn't that special? The ADA -- my friend, my confidant, my utter supporter of the C-peptide crusade ... sense the sarcasm? So much for advocacy, when the president-elect of this organization so willingly swept those safety concerns under the table, when he should have been throwing a tantrum on top of it! And all over the threat of litigation from a drug company more concerned about its investors than patients.

The closing comments in Dr. Inglis' newsletter say it all: There are so many vultures out there waiting to pick the bones of the American public, it disgusts me. This example goes to show why I always recommend to you -- and to all of my patients -- that you always question everything when it comes to your health. I don't care if it's your doctor you've had for 50 years or one of these nonprofit organizations -- give them all hell.

Congressional investigators have been looking into very serious claims that Avandia's maker silenced medical professionals who attempted to speak out about the potential for cardiovascular problems by using the drug.

Dr. Buse, who is about to become the president of the American Diabetes Association, was an early and frequent critic of Avandia after it reached the market in 1999. In a March 2000 letter to the F.D.A., he said Avandia might raise patients' risk of heart attacks, and he criticized the company's marketing, saying it employed "blatant selective manipulation of data" to overstate the drug's benefits and understate its risks.

More recent questions about Avandia's potential risks, as outlined in a New England Journal of Medicine article last week, have prompted the Congressional hearing. The author of that article, Dr. Steven E. Nissen, a heart specialist at the Cleveland Clinic, has also been called to testify. See the full story on the upcoming congressional hearing.

The Wall Street Journal posted an interesting story about a man who needed a drug to treat his ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. He could not get the funding for a large scale trial to approve the drug. I empathize, completely! See that picture of the Hulk? That's me. I'm angry. You won't like me when I'm angry.

As a type 1 diabetic, my concern for improving the lives of people affected by diabetes involves preventing and reversing the complications associated with the disease. The American Diabetes Association states the same somewhere in their mission statement. Ok ADA, put MY money where YOUR 501(C)3 is!!

When I called the American Diabetes Association and shared my excitement for the C-peptide treatment in human trials (in Sweden) reversing type 1 diabetic complications - I was floored when I heard their response.

Allie B: Can the American Diabetes Association please encourage a big pharmaceutical company to sponsor these trials here in the United States? The results in Sweden have conclusively shown reversal of complications associated with type 1 diabetes.

Mat P at the American Diabetes Association: The topic of C-peptide is very sexy in scientific forums. BUT - we don't like to tell big pharmaceutical companies what to do with their money because we don't like them to tell us what to do with ours.

Allie B (in my head): WHAT THE F%^&*)(*&^%$F do you DO as an organization to improve the lives of people affected by diabetes if you are not going to push for trials to prevent and arrest complications associated with the disease?

I'm afraid the American Diabetes Association and I do not share the same goals any longer. It was a long marriage, over 21 years - but I want a divorce. The largest diabetic organization in the United States is not willing to assist in getting a trial underway to prevent and reverse complications that could affect 2 million type 1 diabetics and between 2 and 4 million type 2 diabetics injecting insulin (without C-Peptide).

I didn't feel this way until I realized how disconnected their perception of diabetes is from the reality of the disease. What do you think?