Europe studies eye problem link to diabetes drugs

One of the major hitches in the treatment of any disease is that research into helping patients occurs at different rates, both nationally and internationally. A central database with up-to-date, cutting-edge information would be extremely hard to organise. Similarly, keeping tabs on a nations diabetics is almost impossible. However, new legislation in New York looks set to change all that.
The Board of Health intends to make New York the first city in America with the ability to keep track of diabetes sufferers by forcing laboratories to pass on detailed medical information on patients taking blood tests.
It is expected that those diabetics who are falling behind in their insulin regimen, or whose condition is worsening, could be prompted by an authority dedicated to keeping them on track.
The new move is being dismissed by some as too invasive of a patients’ privacy. Despite the possibility of saving lives, and gaining an insight into the way in which diabetics manage their illness, the total sacrifice of medical privacy is being slated as going too far.
This is the first attempt of a tracking system for diabetics in American, and it will be closely examined as a precedent. Health officials are hoping that it could be the key to halting the phenomenal growth of the diabetes epidemic: diabetes is the fourth biggest killer in New York.