NEW YORK - At least half a million New Yorkers have diabetes, many of them at risk for blindness, kidney failure, amputations and heart problems because they are doing a poor job of controlling their illness. The question is, how much privacy are they willing to give up for a chance at better health?

A century after New York became the first American city to track people with infectious diseases as a way to halt epidemics, officials here propose a similar system to monitor people with diabetes, a non-contagious foe.

[T]he plan would require medical labs to report to the city the results of a certain type of test that indicates how well individual patients are controlling their diabetes.

"There will be some people who will say, 'What business of the government is it to know that my diabetes is not in control?'" said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the city's health commissioner.

The answer, he said, is that diabetes costs an estimated $5 billion a year to treat in New York and was the fourth leading cause of death in the city in 2003, killing 1,891.

By pinpointing problem patients, then intervening ever so slightly in their care, Frieden said the city can improve thousands of lives. "I don't think we can afford not to do anything," he said.

"This isn't smallpox," said James Pyles, an attorney who represents health care groups concerned with medical privacy. "The state, or the city in this case, does not have a compelling interest in the health of an individual that overrides that individual's right to privacy."

"[U]nless diabetics are asked for their consent, it would be "an outright violation of the constitutional right to privacy" for the government to obtain their identities.

The city's program wouldn't initially get consent to collect data...

The American Diabetes Association supports New York's plan.

Dr. Paul Simon of Los Angeles County's public health department, said other big cities could follow New York's lead.

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These people have no concept of rights. The only concept they have is control and they're using healthcare costs as their excuse.

You're absolutely right, Squeezer. This is EXACTLY what the war on smokers has led to. Good catch. Thanks.

Holy "smokes" batman! Well, maybe this will put a "fire" under some people in my family...there are several with diabetes, and they aren't exactly the type of people that like being told what to do...proly not, but one can hope something will get them to see the light of day....and just let them "intervening ever so slightly in their care" to ME! I'm ready for 'em!

BTW, does anyone know if these monetary amounts they come up with subtracts the amount people pay out of their own pockets for health insurance?

What a bunch of swine.....

And the police state marches on.

quote:

Originally posted by AbbyL:
BTW, does anyone know if these monetary amounts they come up with subtracts the amount people pay out of their own pockets for health insurance?

It doesn't matter to them if you paid cash. They still include it in the total. But they like to make the general population think it's coming out of their own pockets.

So what if 5 billion is spent on some sort of health care? Would they rather it was spent at strip joints?

I just wondered why no one ever calls them on their lies, and it seems to me, this would be a pretty easy lie to prove....

Guess they'd rather have the hospitals close down, and have a lot of health care workers out of a job...

In my opinion, the medical profession is out for the medical profession.

There is never any interest in the "quality of life" of the people they are trying to save. If they attached each of us to tubes they could regulate everything that enters our bodies and probably keep us alive for twice as long. The question is who amongst us wants to live that way? Would we even consider it living?

To them and the government we are propective patients and voters who are ignoring them, they can't live with that. They have all these "toys" to play with and noboby wants to play.