Ways to Learn Online, Thanks to the Drug Companies

Drug and device companies are increasingly using “direct-to-consumer” marketing to diabetic patients as well as to doctors and educators. As we’ve written, this can be a great source of learning about available therapies. Novo Nordisk and Medtronic Diabetes Care each just launched new, comprehensive websites focused on patient education (more than on selling any particular product). In fact, the amount of information provided on Novo Nordisk’s www.changingdiabetes-us.com, specifically about insulin, is comprehensive to the point of overwhelming. What struck us most, however, was the site’s effort at personalization and diversity. You can create a personalized home page to construct a “Diabetes Care Plan” – you have to sign in to become a member and then fill out a series of questions about daily and long-term goals. While we found aspects of the navigation somewhat confusing or redundant, and while initially not everyone will want to take the time to sift through the pages, fill out the numbers, and keep updating their information, we do believe the site could be useful to highly motivated patients. We think it also sends a message of inclusion and compassion. Medtronic’s Real Diabetes Control is both stylish and generic at the same time. It’s easy to read, beautiful to look at, and only promotes Minimed products very subtly. The page for “insulin pump therapy” enumerates both the advantages and the disadvantages, though in the drop down for non-insulin-dependent therapies, which is outside of Medtronic’s expertise, it only urges patients to see the ADA site. For the most part, we found it a fairly balanced assessment of different treatments, and patients will appreciate (again for the most part) the absence of hype. That said, the link to “real-time continuous glucose monitoring” describes it as a “revolutionary new tool” without identifying any of the tool’s shortcomings (accuracy, false alarms, and so on).