Here is the response I sent to Sam Wood at the
Inquirer. "All of my lectures given for the
Pharma industry follow strict FDA guidelines and
are consistent with the corporate integrity
agreements entered into between the companies
and the government. There is full disclosure of
this fact at all lectures. I have not worked at
the Coatesville VA in a number of years. I
strictly work out of Roxborough and am a
private, self-employed citizen; not an employee
of any company, government, hospital, or health
care organization.
Thank you for at least quoting the article from
last year. I stand by what I said there. Some
organizations have an agenda to make
interactions between Pharma and doctors somehow
seem nefarious. Let me give you some statistics
if you want the REAL story: There are 28 million
people in the U.S. with diabetes. About 350
million worldwide (and yes, I have lectured
around the world on this topic). It used to be
said that someone in the world loses a limb to
diabetes every 30 seconds. That is now down to
every 20 seconds. Diabetes is the cause for
about 70-80,000 amputations per year in the US
alone. The single greatest cause.
The 5-year mortality of people who present to
their doctors for the first time with a diabetic
foot ulceration is HIGHER than the 5 year
mortality for breast cancer, prostate cancer and
Hodgkin’s lymphoma. If you add peripheral
arterial disease to that, the 5 year mortality
is even higher than colorectal cancer. Diabetic
foot infection accounts for about 33% of the
>$100 BILLION spent on patients with diabetes
each year and accounts for the greatest number
of hospital days YET the NIH only provides <0.2%
of all of their diabetes funding to study foot
complications (soon to be presented new data).
The vast majority of research in the treatment
of diabetic foot infections has been done by the
private sector including the Pharma industry.
Yes, I go out and spread this information to my
colleagues and it is often paid for by industry.
However, by doing so I know I have saved
countless limbs and lives. Frankly, I don’t see
anything nefarious about that…only good.
Warren Joseph, DPM, Huntingdon Valley, PA,
wsjoseph@comcast.net
