On behalf of the Society Staff and Council, our thoughts and best wishes go out to the people of Texas whose lives have been devastated by Hurricane Harvey, and to those in Louisiana and elsewhere who are bracing for additional rain and flooding.
This incredible disaster is a reminder to all of us to prepare for natural disasters and severe weather. I urge all of you who care for patients with chronic diseases, to remind them about disaster readiness, particularly those who require life-saving medications such as insulin, thyroid hormone, and glucocorticoids.
We are supporting the leadership of ADA and JDRF and were on a call with them this morning to discuss how we can best support patients, providers, universities, fellows, and others impacted by the storm. We are grateful to those who are working diligently to help patients in need.
Lilly diabetes, which has distributed insulin and other medications to the area, offers a 1-800 number (1-800-LILLYRX) to answer questions. The website of Healthcare Ready (a consortium of bio-pharmaceutical organizations, private sector companies, foundations and associations) helps to coordinate this availability. Their website offers an interactive map to help patients find pharmacies that are open.
Insulet is reaching out to patients and providers through social media and is responding to needs and inquiries through its customer care team, which can be reached at 800-591-3455. Their local contacts will also have additional supplies to distribute as needs are identified.
Novo Nordisk has announced their partnership with Americares for product donations (including their medicines) to non-profit organizations. Inquiries from non-profit organizations should be directed to Americares via +1-800-486-Help.
Sanofi is advising HCPs to encourage patients to reach out to the Hurricane Harvey emergency response departments of their NGO partners Direct Relief (+1-805-879-4902) and Americares (+1-203-658-9500).
Medtronic is helping patients access insulin pumps or supplies through its Storm Hotline at +1-800-646-4633 ext. 64545.
Dexcom is giving extra supplies to the local reps as they can reach them in the Houston area and they will then distribute to doctors and any patients that call them for emergency supplies. Any patients that have lost sensors in the flooding, can call Dexcom and they will ship out extras to them.
The American Diabetes Association hotline is available Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM–8:00 PM EST at +1-800-DIABETES to support patients with diabetes.
JDRF has included resources for T1D patients on its website and will update the information frequently.
I am sure that everyone will wish to contribute in some way to the recovery of the area, and a number of organizations are collecting funds to help. We also recognize the difficulties facing our professional colleagues, both in the near term and during the recovery, including the inability to see patients, problems with obtaining supplies, loss of experiments, and interruption of journal delivery. As in the aftermath of Katrina and the Japanese tsunami, I am sure that members will open their facilities to colleagues, whether to fellows needing to continue to see patients, or investigators needing to finalize experiments and manuscripts. If you have an urgent need, please let us know at [email protected].
We will continue to monitor ongoing events and to update you via email. Please follow us also on Twitter @TheEndoSociety for further announcements about how you can help.
Sincerely Yours,
Lynnette K. Nieman, MD
President
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