Brush your way to proper diabetic health? Not any time soon.

My friend Amy Tenderich over at Diabetes Mine has a fascinating post about rejected health innovations such as GenoMed’s disappointing attempts to get industry support for developing specially formulated toothpaste that could deliver drugs like insulin to patients.

Insulin toothpaste! Imagine that! I mean, I understand not wanting to inject yourself every day, but if you can’t be bothered to brush your teeth once a day, you’ve got other Issues besides diabetes.

In her conversations with the company’s CEO, Amy discovered that while the research and development continues and patents are being pursued, the company has had little luck in getting toothpaste companies to sign on. It has also had difficulty attracting attention to other medical developments, including a treatment to prevent diabetic kidney failure.

To me, the most interesting part of Amy’s article come in the question she poses at the end, a question that I’ve heard asked before. “Do the organizations that make their living off this disease really want a cure?”

I love a good conspiracy theory as much as anyone, so I’ll be watching this closely.

(Thanks, Amy!)