Insulin

A Philadelphia cabaret owner who has diabetes sued the city in federal court yesterday, contending he was brought "close to death" last year when police, arresting him on a liquor-code violation, locked him in a holding cell for almost 24 hours and denied him access to insulin and blood-pressure medicine. The civil-rights suit filed by Stephen Rosen, 48, says his is the fourth claim filed against the city since 1997 over police treatment of diabetics in custody, despite a 1982 agreement in which the city settled a suit by the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and promised to implement police training about identifying and handling diabetic emergencies.

Dave Hollins is not only feeling better these days, he's eating better, too. The Phillies first baseman, disabled with complications from diabetes, rejoined the team here yesterday and, slightly heavier after assuming a diet high in fats, took batting practice. "He looks much better," said manager Jim Fregosi, who couldn't say when Hollins might return to the Phils. "He's fresh-faced again. " Hollins dropped 12 or 13 pounds when, with his blood-sugar levels rising, he contracted a stomach virus.

A Bucks County nurse charged with murdering her husband with an insulin shot must remain jailed until her trial, a judge ruled yesterday. Jean Saxon is ineligible for bail because Pennsylvania law forbids it for defendants facing potential life sentences, Bucks County Court Judge Mitchell Goldberg said at a bail hearing. A grand jury indicted Saxon, 45, of Levittown, on a first-degree murder charge Nov. 18. She is accused of lethally injecting her estranged husband, Jerry, apparently as he slept in his Bensalem apartment on March 17, 2003.

The phrase "genetic engineering" hadn't reached far beyond the scientific community in the 1970s when Ralph L. Brinster and several other molecular biologists produced "mighty mice. " They produced the extra-large mice by injecting fertilized mouse eggs with growth hormones taken from the genes of rats. As Brinster and his collaborators continued to expand their techniques to researching farm animals and trying to solve mysteries about cancer and blood- clotting problems in humans, the public gradually began hearing more about "genetic engineering.

The city medical examiner's office is unable to determine whether a lack of insulin contributed to the death of a diabetic shoplifting suspect, who was said to have asked repeatedly for insulin while jailed for 21 hours in the Police Administration Building. Tests on blood taken from Betty Jean Davis, 36, who collapsed on the street about 90 minutes after she was released from the police lockup on Nov. 6, show a high level of sugar, said Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Halbert Fillinger.

CIGARETTE AND COFFEE. If you're going to quit smoking, cut down on coffee- drinking, too. A new study suggests that smokers' withdrawal symptoms may be caused by too much caffeine rather than too little nicotine. Smokers, who tend to be heavy coffee drinkers, eliminate caffeine from their bodies twice as fast as nonsmokers, a researcher reports in the British Medical Journal. But when those people stop smoking, their elimination rate for coffee slows down and caffeine builds up, the report says.

In a typical middle school, two or three children have Type 1 diabetes, the form of the disease that typically strikes during puberty (but sometimes in kindergarten or even earlier), wiping out the body's ability to make insulin. Right now, there's no cure. And Type 1 is especially tough to manage because the insulin that kids need to stay alive can't be taken as a pill or a syrup. The biggest new breakthrough is an insulin pump that works in tandem with a glucose monitor using radio signals, says Dr. Steven Willi, director of the Diabetes Center for Children at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The number of diabetics in America is growing. The number of unemployed pharmaceutical workers seems to be doing the same. That combination is bad, unless you are Novo Nordisk. A relatively small Danish-based drug company with a U.S. home in Princeton, Novo Nordisk is in a sweet spot in the pharmaceutical landscape because the core of its business is diabetes. With 40 straight quarters of double-digit growth, the company said Friday it plans a 15 percent increase to its U.S. workforce, meaning about 615 more jobs, through the end of this year.

The father and son of a diabetic woman who died in November after police ignored her requests for insulin during a day in custody, yesterday sued the city, alleging that police negligence and willful misconduct led to the woman's death. The suit, filed in Common Pleas Court, doesn't seek specific damages. But lawyers for the estate of Betty Jean Davis noted that the city's legal liability limit is $500,000. Davis, 36, of West Philadelphia, was arrested Nov. 5 after her boyfriend was caught stealing a tape from a video store.

IT IS VERY unfortunate that Philadelphia has decided to reduce the number of school nurses. All children benefit from the expertise provided by the school nurse. However, for the child with diabetes, a number of other caregivers can be trained to administer insulin and to recognize and treat low blood sugar. Parents of newly diagnosed children with diabetes quickly learn to care for their child. They also train others, such as family members and babysitters, to provide care. And, of course, older children can usually administer their own insulin.