In this week’s issue of The Savvy Diabetic:
Tandem secures FDA approval for Control-IQ+ use in pregnancy
Senseonics Announces Commencement of $80 Million Public Offering
True Metrix Glucometers Linked With 114 Injuries
Medical Board Wants AI Doctor Program ‘Immediately Suspended’
Brolucizumab in the Treatment of Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy
Medicare Advantage health plans may cut extra benefits in 2027
Tandem secures FDA approval for Control-IQ+ use in pregnancy by Salong Debbarma for MedicalDevice-Network.com, 28 April 2026.
Tandem Diabetes Care has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Control-IQ+ automated insulin delivery technology to be used during pregnancy in individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). This clearance applies to the t:slim X2 and Tandem Mobi insulin delivery systems, which are powered by Control-IQ+. The approval is based on findings from the randomised controlled CIRCUIT trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in October 2025.
Researchers reported that maternal and neonatal outcomes were broadly comparable in both groups but were more favourable among those on the Control-IQ system. Tandem Diabetes Care chief medical officer Dr Jordan Pinsker said: “Glycaemic goals are tighter during pregnancy. The higher time in the pregnancy-specific glucose range seen with Control-IQ can help improve pregnancy outcomes.”
Read more: Tandem secures FDA approval for Control-IQ+ use in pregnancy
Senseonics Announces Commencement of $80 Million Public Offering of Common Stock and Pre-Funded Warrants by Sean Whooley for DrugDeliveryBusiness.com, 30 April 2026.
Senseonics announced that it commenced an underwritten public offering to sell $80 million in common stock. The offering includes common stock and, for certain investors, pre-funded warrants to purchase common stock. Germantown, Maryland-based Senseonics expects to grant underwriters a 30-day option to purchase. up to an additional 15% of the total number of shares included in the public offering. All securities to be sold in the proposed offering will be offered by Senseonics.
The company intends to use net proceeds from the public offering to fund the ongoing launch of its Eversense 365 system. It also plans to use the money to support the development of pipeline products, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Read more: Senseonics announces $80M public offering
Find Alternative to Glucometers Linked With 114 Injuries by Kristen Monaco for MedPageToday.com, 29 April 2026.
Patients using recalled True Metrix blood glucose monitoring systems linked to one death and over 100 serious injuries should switch to an alternative testing method when possible, the FDA said. In a safety communication, the agency warned that a software problem with Trividia Health’s True Metrix blood glucose meters may lead to improper treatment. As of Jan. 16, one death and 114 serious injuries have been linked to the issue. The FDA in February designated the recall as class I — the most serious type.
A software design problem regarding the E-5 Error Code prompted the recall. Meters display the same error code for two very different types of issues: a blood glucose over 600 mg/dL, and test strip errors. “Either a delay in treatment or improper treatment may result in serious adverse health consequences, such as dehydration, altered mental status, loss of consciousness, or death, especially for users with very high or very low blood glucose levels,” the FDA noted. Healthcare professionals are urged to report any complications to both the FDA and Trividia Health.
Read more: Find Alternative to Glucometers Linked With 114 Injuries
Medical Board Wants AI Doctor Program ‘Immediately Suspended’ by Joyce Frieden for MedPageToday.com, 28 April 2026.
The Utah Medical Licensing Board has called for the immediate suspension of a state-run pilot program that would allow artificial intelligence (AI)-based prescription renewals, noting that it potentially places citizens at risk.
“Overseeing prescription refills is a task reserved for properly licensed medical practitioners for critical safety and clinical reasons,” the board wrote in an April 20 letter to the Utah Department of Commerce. “Each refill requires reassessment and clinical decision-making to safely adjust doses, monitor for side effects, contraindications, or new drug interactions, and ensure the medication remains effective. Patients who continue refilling medications without assessment may remain on outdated or suboptimal therapy for months or years. There is a reason prescription refills require physician authorization.”
“It is the strong recommendation of the Utah Medical Licensing Board that this program be immediately suspended pending further discussion,” the board stated.
The commerce department announced the pilot program on Jan. 6, although it actually began in October 2025. Medication noncompliance is a big driver of negative health outcomes and avoidable spending, the department said in a press release. “With prescription renewals accounting for roughly 80% of all medication activity, Utah and [AI vendor] Doctronic aim to test how autonomous AI can help close gaps in access” and improve outcomes for patients with chronic conditions. Patients in Utah who want to access the program can do so using the Doctronic website.
Read more: Medical Board Wants AI Doctor Program ‘Immediately Suspended’
Brolucizumab in the Treatment of Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy CONDOR Randomized Clinical Trial and published by JAMANetwork.com, 23 April 2026.
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a microvascular complication of diabetes and the leading cause of preventable blindness in working-age adults. Approximately 463 million people are currently living with diabetes worldwide, and of these, an estimated 22% have DR, and just over 6% (28.56 million people) have vision-threatening DR. In its advanced stage, known as proliferative DR (PDR), the disease manifests as pathologic neovascularization at the retina with or without macular edema.
Brolucizumab is a single-chain antibody fragment with high affinity for VEGF. A notable feature of brolucizumab is its low molecular weight (26 kDa), thereby allowing a greater volume of drug per injection to be delivered to the retina than many other available anti-VEGF therapies. Preclinical data have shown that brolucizumab penetrates the retina to the level of the retinal pigment epithelium or choroid with minimal subsequent systemic exposure.
Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of brolucizumab, 6 mg, compared with panretinal laser photocoagulation (PRP) in eyes with PDR.
Conclusions and Relevance In the CONDOR randomized clinical trial, brolucizumab was superior to PRP in preserving visual acuity and may be a viable treatment alternative to PRP monotherapy for patients with PDR.
Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04278417
Conclusions: In conclusion, findings from the current week 54 analysis of the CONDOR randomized clinical trial demonstrated superior outcomes with brolucizumab vs PRP in terms of preserving vision. Results from the future 96-week analysis will provide further insight into the longer-term efficacy of brolucizumab and its potential to improve visual outcomes with a manageable treatment burden in patients with PDR. Also, and importantly, the rate of intraocular inflammation was consistent with the established safety profile of brolucizumab, and no new safety findings for brolucizumab were reported in the PDR population. These findings suggest that brolucizumab provides effective disease control in PDR by reversing disease progression and maintaining functional vision through the prevention of VTCs. Brolucizumab may be a viable treatment alternative to PRP for patients with PDR.
Read more: Brolucizumab in the Treatment of Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy
Americans enrolled in Medicare Advantage health plans should expect to see fewer extra benefits like gym memberships and vision and dental coverage next year, investors and industry experts say.
The U.S. government said earlier this month it would raise 2027 payments to insurers managing Medicare Advantage plans for people aged 65 and older or with disabilities by 2.48% on average. Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, has aimed to cut federal health plan spending.
Added services including coverage of vision, hearing, dental, fitness programs, meals and transportation assistance have helped entice half of the 70 million people on Medicare into managed care plans instead of the government’s standard fee-for-service-based program.
Read more: Medicare Advantage health plans may cut extra benefits in 2027
