BACKGROUND Nearly 33% of the 24.5 million people in the US with diabetes mellitus (DM) have co-morbid depression. Since 65% of patients with DM die from cardiovascular disease (CVD), concomitant control of CVD risk factors along with glycemic control is crucial to prevent adverse outcomes. However, co-morbid depression makes DM and CVD risk factors harder to control. We demonstrated that a pharmacist-led group visit model consisting of: 1) pharmacotherapy management for DM, hyperlipidemia and hypertension, 2) self-management education, 3) case management and 4) behavioral strategies for DM and CVD self-care behaviors, was more efficacious in improving hyperglycemia and CVD risk factors compared to standard primary care controls in a general DM population and also for patients with DM and co-morbid depression. For participants with DM and depression there was also a non-significant trend toward improvement in depression despite the lack of depression treatment.