RediClinic, BIOSAFE Labs and Glycemion to Provide Free Diabetes Risk Assessments...

RediClinic, BIOSAFE Labs and Glycemion to Provide Free Diabetes Risk
Assessments to Richmond, Va. School Children

RICHMOND, Va., April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- RediClinic LLC announced today
that it is teaming up with BIOSAFE Laboratories, Inc. and Glycemion, Inc. to
provide free diabetes screenings to school age children in the greater
Richmond, Va. area to help identify diabetic and pre-diabetic children and
adolescents. Beginning May 1, 2008 and continuing through May 31, 2008, the
diabetes screenings will be available free of charge at any of the nine
RediClinic facilities located in Wal-Mart Supercenters in the Richmond area.
No appointments are necessary.
Parents are encouraged to bring their children in for the free screening
if they recognize any of the seven most common symptoms of diabetes in their
children: frequent urination, excessive thirst, extreme hunger, sudden weight
loss, increased fatigue, blurred vision or if the child is overweight.
"Diabetes is a debilitating and life-shortening disease whose most serious
complications can often be effectively treated with early detection. We hope
that making this test available to school age children will result in earlier
diagnosis of undiagnosed diabetes and pre-diabetes, and help to mitigate
complications later in life. Awareness at an early age is key," said Carolyn
Galloway, MD, chief medical officer of RediClinic LLC.
The BIOSAFE Diabetes Risk Assessment is a two-part process comprised of an
immediate fasting glucose reading and a mail-in laboratory analysis for
hemoglobin A1c, a blood glucose marker for the previous 90-day period. Samples
for both tests are collected through a simple finger-stick collection kit.
Taken in combination, these two results are a reliable indicator of diabetes
or a pre-diabetes condition.
For best results, a child should fast for 12 hours before having the
screening administered. The instant glucose results will be available a few
minutes after the test is administered. If the glucose result is elevated, the
blood sample will be sent to a lab for further analysis and the results of the
BIOSAFE Diabetes Risk Assessment will be shared with parents approximately two
weeks after the clinic visit. As part of the process, RediClinic clinicians
will educate patients about diabetes, and refer patients to their medical home
or an appropriate provider for follow-on care.
"Despite decades of medical advances for the treatment of diabetes,
millions of people remain undiagnosed or at risk for the disease. We are
confident that those who are identified as being in a pre-diabetic state will
work with their physicians, school nurses and diabetes educators to implement
dietary and healthy lifestyle changes to avoid the onset of diabetes and its
catastrophic complications, such as heart disease, blindness and kidney
failure," said Jack Maggiore, Ph.D., president of BIOSAFE Laboratories.
Type 2 diabetes (non-insulin dependent diabetes) affects more than 20
million Americans and is the most common form of the disease. However, because
diabetes exhibits few, if any, symptoms until its advanced stages, millions
more are unaware that they are in danger of developing the disease. When blood
glucose (sugar) levels are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be
classified as diabetes, a condition known as pre-diabetes exists. If
discovered early, a person with pre-diabetes can avoid the disease through
education, diet, exercise and appropriately prescribed medications.
Glycemion, Inc. is participating in the program by marketing and
distributing the BIOSAFE Diabetes Risk Assessment kits in the United States.
Funding for this program is being provided, in part, by the National
Center for Public Research (N.C.P.R.). The N.C.P.R., in partnership with the
Mari Gallagher Research & Consulting Group, has conducted extensive research
on the identification of and solution to the Food Desert and its link to
diabetes. A Food Desert is a reference to a large or isolated geographical
area with limited, or no, access to mainstream grocery stores.
"This is a wonderful example of direct action being taken by business and
science in response to our research. Most importantly, children and the
communities they live in will benefit greatly from this effort," said Mari
Gallagher, president of N.C.P.R. and Mari Gallagher Research & Consulting
Group.
RediClinic locations are in-store healthcare facilities that offer
consumers easy access to high-quality, routine health services at affordable
prices. They are staffed by certified nurse practitioners and other clinicians
who work with local physicians to diagnose, treat and prescribe medications
for common conditions, such as earaches, strep throat and upper respiratory
infections. RediClinic patients can also benefit from a wide range of
preventive services, including health screenings, flu shots and other
vaccinations, and back-to-school physical exams.
RediClinic locations are open seven days a week (including most holidays)
and offer extended hours on weekdays. Adults and children over age two are
welcome, no appointments are necessary, and a typical visit takes about 15
minutes.
RediClinic visits are covered by the four largest commercial health
insurance carriers -- Aetna, CIGNA, Humana and UnitedHealthcare -- as well as
by Medicare and a growing number of regional carriers, such as Southern Health
in Virginia. Those who are covered by health plans that do not currently have
agreements with RediClinic receive specially-formatted receipts that can be
filed for possible reimbursement.
RediClinic in-store healthcare facilities are located in the following
Richmond-area Wal-Mart Supercenters:
-- 145 Hill Carter Pkwy Ashland VA 23005
-- 11400 West Broad Street Rd Glen Allen VA 23060
-- 12000 Iron Bridge Rd Chester VA 23831
-- 7430 Bell Creek Rd Mechanicsville VA 23111
-- 7901 Brook Rd Richmond VA 23227
-- 900 Wal-Mart Way Midlothian VA 23113
-- 2501 Sheila Lane Richmond VA 23225
-- 671 Southpark Blvd Colonial Heights VA 23834
-- 12200 Chattanooga Plaza Chesterfield VA 23112

RediClinic operates in 21 H-E-B stores in Houston, Austin and San Antonio,
Texas; and in 13 Wal-Mart Supercenters in Tulsa, Okla., Fayetteville and
Rogers, Ark. and Richmond, Va. Additional RediClinics are scheduled to open
2008.
For a complete list of locations, services, prices and additional
information about RediClinic, visit: http://www.rediclinic.com.
For more information about this program, contact Susan Wadsworth at
swadsworth@rediclinic.com or Dana Green at dgreen@glycemion.com.
RediClinic LLC
Since 1989, RediClinic (formerly known as InterFit Health) has provided
people with easy access to high-quality, affordable healthcare services.
Today the company is the largest independent convenient care operator in the
United States, and a leading provider of health-related events that are
implemented in retail outlets and employer worksites nationwide. For more
information, visit http://www.rediclinic.com
BIOSAFE Laboratories, Inc.
Located in Chicago, Ill., BIOSAFE Laboratories, Inc. develops,
manufactures, and processes health monitoring and testing products for the
consumer, physician, health screening, occupational health, pharmaceutical,
disease-management, and medical research markets. For more information, visit
http://www.ebiosafe.com.
Glycemion, Inc.
Glycemion, Inc. is an independent distributor of the BIOSAFE Disease Risk
Assessment and other rapid results products and marketing services.
National Center for Public Research
The National Center for Public Research is a nonprofit entity dedicated to
providing meaningful and unbiased data and information to improve quality of
life, quality of health, and financial wellbeing for all people and
communities. For more information, visit:
http://www.NationalCenterforPublicResearch.org, http://www.NCforPR.org, or
http://www.marigallagher.com.
SOURCE RediClinic LLC

Katie Brazel of Fleishman-Hillard, +1-404-739-0150,
katie.brazel@fleishman.com, for RediClinic LLC