University Group Diabetes Program

To the Editor.— As a minor participant in the University Group Diabetes Program (UGDP), I think that the compelling reason for the study apparently has been lost (1) in the controversy over the validity of the reported finding of increased cardiovascular deaths in patients receiving tolbutamide, and (2) in the criticism of the Food and Drug Administration's bulletin to physicians with respect to its recommendations concerning the use of orally administered hypoglycemic agents. The Program was undertaken to evaluate prospectively the influence of treatment upon the development of complications in adult-onset diabetics. This basic question, so vital to the day-to-day care of diabetic patients, has not been answered to date by the Program. Both patients and their attending physicians are entitled to an answer; hence, this letter. Currently the Executive Committee of the UGDP is in process of preparation of a request to the National Institutes of Health to continue