My 15 year old niece has IDDM. She has had a number of labile hyperglycemic episodes leading to her hospitalization. Due to income problems, her mother is unable to afford the cost of the insulin pump placement. I was wondering if you knew of any research studies in which she could enroll to help her mother with the cost of the pump. She lives in Georgia.

I don’t know of any studies that are currently enrolling participants for the insulin pump. You should contact your local representative for the insulin pump companies for any further information. The main two companies in the US market for insulin pumps are MiniMed and Disetronic. See their websites for contact information.

MSB
Additional comments from Dr. Bill Quick:

It’s possible that local research studies are underway using a pump. To investigate this, I’d suggest also contacting the Pediatric Endocrinology department at the nearest medical school or Children’s Hospital, although I’d suspect the company reps would probably be aware of such studies.

But, please remember, research trials are designed to find out new information to help in the future, and may or may not be of any immediate benefit to the participant in the study.

WWQ