The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

House of Representatives

2160 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Ros-Lehtinen:

On behalf of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), thank you for signing the letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt highlighting the potential of continuous glucose sensors to revolutionize diabetes care and improve patients' lives. The letter was signed by 68 Senators and 238 Representatives - an impressive display of support for this meaningful new technology.

As you know, diabetes takes a tremendous personal toll on the millions who are affected with the disease and their families, and it also places a tremendous economic burden on our health care system. We all recognize that current diabetes care is not meeting the challenges of this growing epidemic. Recent studies have documented that most people - even those who are intensively managing their disease - do not spend the majority of time in normal glucose range. This constant swing between highs and lows increases the risk of complications such as eye, heart, kidney, and nerve disease, and coma, seizures and sometimes death. Continuous glucose sensors hold great promise in giving people the information they need to make adjustments by either taking insulin or eating carbohydrates to spend more time in normal glucose range, thus improving their health outcomes.

Continuous glucose sensors are just coming onto the market - two devices have been approved by the FDA - and our hope is that the short-term result will be thriving, competitive market for these devices where they are both available and accessible to all people with diabetes who could potentially benefit from them.

Again, thank you for your support of this meaningful technology and for recognizing that the government should help to accelerate the advancements in medical technologies to improve the lives of those affected by chronic disease like diabetes. We look forward to continuing to work with you on this project as well as other efforts towards our ultimate goal of a cure.

Sincerely,

Arnold W. Donald

President and Chief Executive Officer

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