Lilly Diabetes and Walgreens Launch Diabetes Hypoglycemia Awareness Campaign

INDIANAPOLIS, April 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Lilly Diabetes and Walgreens are educating people living with diabetes about one of the most common and misunderstood consequences of diabetes: hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). The companies today launched an awareness campaign at 43 Walgreens pharmacies throughout the Indianapolis area. Lilly Diabetes will provide take-home educational materials about hypoglycemia that pharmacists may use when counseling people with diabetes.

Hypoglycemia occurs when people experience an abnormally low level of blood sugar, which is the body's main energy source.[1] Symptoms may include shaking, sweating, tiredness, hunger, increased heart rate, confusion, blurred vision and / or headaches. It's important to recognize and treat hypoglycemia, as it can get worse and people can lose consciousness. [2]

"At Lilly Diabetes, we understand that managing diabetes extends beyond medicines to tools and resources that provide real, personalized solutions to improve the quality of everyday life, which is why we're excited to collaborate with Walgreens to tackle the important and sometimes overlooked issue of hypoglycemia," said Steve Sugino, vice president of Lilly Diabetes. "This initiative will not only provide needed education, but will also ultimately help facilitate better discussions between pharmacists and people with diabetes that can lead to improved disease management."

The Lilly Diabetes-Walgreens approach is designed to complement the care and guidance people with diabetes receive from their health care providers. The campaign will be launched in 43 Walgreens stores in the Indianapolis area and showcase Walgreens' new approach to community pharmacy that includes making pharmacists more accessible for patient consultations. Based on customer feedback over the next six months, the companies will explore expanding the campaign in additional cities.

"Walgreens, with our dedicated and highly professional pharmacists, is continually looking for ways to enhance our services to best meet the needs of our customers, particularly when it comes to their health needs," says Walgreens Indianapolis market pharmacy director Marcel Naddaf. "With the high incidence of diabetes and its potential complications, we're pleased to collaborate with Lilly Diabetes to provide valuable information to our customers with diabetes to help them better manage their condition."

About Lilly Diabetes
Lilly has been a global leader in diabetes care since 1923, when we introduced the world's first commercial insulin. Today we work to meet the diverse needs of people with diabetes through research and collaboration, a broad and growing product portfolio and our continued commitment to providing real solutions – from medicines to support programs and more – to make lives better. For more information, visit www.lillydiabetes.com.

About Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY)
Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers – through medicines and information – for some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is available at www.lilly.com.

About Walgreens
As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2011 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens vision is to become America's first choice for health and daily living. Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 7,840 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.

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[1] Mayo Clinic, "Hypoglycemia." http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hypoglycemia/DS00198. Accessed on 12/12/11.

[2] American Diabetes Association. "Living with Diabetes." http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/blood-glucose-control/hypoglycemia-low-blood.html.  Accessed on 11/15/11.

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SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company