Ever heard of MedCo Health Solutions? It's not a household name like the big pharmaceutical companies Novo, Glaxo etc. However, MedCo, which happens to be in the prescription benefit management business, is a large and powerful company. Now it's about to become even larger: the company is poised to pay $1.5 billion for PolyMedica Corporation, the nation's biggest supplier of diabetes-related products.

According to a Forbes report on the deal, PolyMedica has nearly one million patients using its products. Its product line includes Liberty Healthcare brand, blood glucose test kits and meters, lancet kits, insulin and the like. The Forbes article says the move is basically a smart one on the part of MedCo: it can cash in on the growing demand(14.5 % growth, annually!) for diabetes supplies. MedCo's chief exec, David Snow, told Forbes he anticipates the purchase could make his company (indirectly) the supplier of diabetes treatment products to half of all insured Americans with diabetes.

Factoid: ads for PolyMedica star "Cocoon" and "Seinfeld" actor Wilford Brimley.

Lately the news has seen a lot of devastating diabetic events due to hypoglycemic unawareness. Hypoglycemic unawareness is commonly defined as an inability to recognize the symptoms (sweating, tremor, hunger, anxiety, and palpitations) of decreased blood sugar or a failure of the warning signs to occur before development of neuroglycopenia, which means a shortage of glucose in the brain. Curiously, this term was not coined for diabetes until 10 years after the introduction of genetically modified human synthetic insulin and insulin analogues.

I hate to say it but diabetes is a crapshoot. You never know what you are going to get, but you can sure try your best to keep your eye on the ball. Removing the inherent dangers of hypoglycemic unawareness would make me a happier diabetic, and improve the lives of all those I care about (diabetics like myself). The answer might lie in the only type of treatment available nowadays, insulin analogues. Diabetics who do not take any form of drug to control blood sugar do NOT have hypoglycemic unawareness.

It's called human but it is nothing like natural human insulin. It may be faster acting or longer lasting but I'm sure He didn't intend for insulin to break sound barriers or last three moons. If Big Pharmaceutical companies were asked to compare insulin analogues with natural human insulin you'd hear crickets. I promise you NO Big Pharma will fund a study that would become the antithesis of their marketing campaigns, human insulin is better. It's not better, it's just different -- totally different! Natural insulin is fat-loving. Insulin analogues are water-loving. The global command center of the body (the brain) is one big blob of fatty material. This means as your blood sugar is dropping, your brain is last fed, if it eats at all. Here in the United States we are victims of circumstance in hypoglycemic unawareness. Sorry brain, no soup for you.

I'm the lady and the Lobster is brought to us by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. On Friday, December 1, 2006 there will be a Lobster Bash held in Babylon, NY. The event will take place at the Venetian Yacht Club. I would like to find 9 guests to join me. The table costs $1,000, so it will cost $100 a person - the balance of $55 is fully tax deductible.

I'll pay for my ticket. I'm inviting anybody within a convenient distance to join me. Come to the event, meet me, and tell me what's on your mind. Oh, and if none of that wets your whistle, maybe this will excite you: open bar, silent auction, and dancing. I've been told I dance like Elane Benes from Seinfeld. It's not true. I don't think so, anyway.

Ladies and Gentleman please don't send me out to the wolves in the CraigsList platonic neighborhood. Yes, I've been known to dabble in the singles scene, shamelessly. This is a different call to action. This is for philanthropy, supporting the research efforts of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Lobster buffet, open bar, and good times. Need a girl ask for a more socially-rounded experience? You are all cordially invited to attend! Leave me feedback or email if you would like further details.

This Sunday, September 3, 2006 join the uproarious laughter of Jim Turner (best known for HBO's Arli$$), as he tests your trivia talent while paying tribute to the unspoken heroes of the diabetes community, healthcare professionals and caregivers. He uses his Diabetes Toolbox to facilitate the introductions. From what I've heard, the Diabetes Toolbox alone is worth tuning in!

Jim, a co-host of dLifeTV, was diagnosed as a type I diabetic in high school. He has found that sharing his experiences as a diabetic will help other diabetics understand that they are not alone. The unique gift Jim uses to relay this message is his craft for comedy.

So if you think that you or someone you know is a celebrity trivia genius, tune into dLifeTV (on CNBC) this Sunday, September 3, 2006 at 7:00PM ET/4:00PM PT and rediscover Susan (Heidi Swedberg) , the ill-fated fiancé of Seinfeld's George Costanza; Jeffrey Rosso the high school guidance counselor from Freaks and Geeks; Spin City's Carter Sebastian Heywood and many others who team up to remind you that they exist and deserve their own kind of special recognition -- just like diabetes caregivers!