American Idol runner-up Crystal Bowersox recently went to the White House to push for the renewal of the Special Diabetes Program. Bowersox, who was diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic at the age of six, told Politico that “it’s really important for us to keep.”
Federal funding of the Special Diabetes Program is approaching a major crossroads. Funding for the program first went into effect in 1998 and is set to expire in September 2011. Under a new bill, which must be passed for funding to continue, $1 billion would be allocated each to Type 1 diabetes research and Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes treatment and prevention programs for Native Americans.
The program, which supports major clinical trials of drugs and treatments as well as preventative programs, has not received an increase in funding in six years.
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