Strips made by Abbott Labratories can give false low blood sugar readings
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comNearly 360 million diabetes testing strips recalled
Seeded on Wed Dec 22, 2010 2:48 PM EST (msnbc.com)
- msnbc.com sites & shows:
- TODAY
- Rock Center
- Nightly News
- Meet the Press
- Dateline
- Morning Joe
- Hardball
- Ed
- Maddow
- Last Word
- msnbc tv
Leave a Comment:
So very kind of them. Only a life or death situation for some.
...and a costly one for diabetic patients! 360 million strips = what # of patients are in harms way? My family member is a diabetic and it makes me damned outraged that she may be at risk.
It is a life and death situation for many!
If there was going to be an error, this way is not as serious. If someone thinks their blood sugar is 40 mg/dL and it's really 70 mg/dL they may drink a glass of juice. A bump in the glucose value here is not life or death. Even if it was so far off and the patient had a true value of 200 mg/dL, a glass of juice would not harm the diabetic. Now, if the values were falsely elevated and the patient took insulin, that could very well kill someone.
You make high glucose seems so acceptable and having little consequence for diabetics. High blood sugar did result in a DKA for my son and we nearly lost him. He went into cardiac arrest and will have life long effects from this. Extremes in blood sugar in either direction can have devastating consequences. Diabetics reach a point of no return in their decision making when levels are off and it can happen very quickly. Ut is very irritating when people minimize conditions that they truly don't have a clue about.
1st they say ReliOn Ultima is being recalled and then not being recalled.
How will we know which lots?
Take them back to the store where you got them. If they don't know yet just call the company at the number listed on the box.
We have Precision Xtra, how do we know what lot numbers are being recalled?
Look above your post.
And they'll replace them for free ? How sweet of them ! Hundreds of millions of them defective and they are just finding out now ?
Where were they manufactured? China?? Maybe one more example of China trying to save a buck while infusing the US with dangerous products?
Cynical me. I wonder if they waited just after releasing their earnings estimate before issuing a recall.
I wondered that myself....
Why not just get rid of the whole damn strip routine and go to the other handheld 2-3 second reader it's not messy and diabetics worldwide still have to take insulin shots, pills etc and give these people a break! Abbott is still making money and isn't that what all these Drug companies are about? Personally they got the cures for all these diseases but we the public are not privvy to this info cause they are more GREEDY than the Banks and they need the money to stay on top and pay their CEO's their yearly Bonus! One day you all will get yours and hopefully nobody will BAIL you out!!! And YES I'M MAD AS HELL and when is the MIDDLE CLASS GOING TO GET THEIR BAIL_OUT? Oh I forgot, they the Elites are shipping their companies overseas cheap labor and socking it us at the counters!Merry Christmas to you too!! A Middle Class Patriot
I have been a daibetic all my life. You really do not need a strip to tell you your sugar is low your body does that for you. Now if your strip is reading wrong and your on a sliding scale then your in trouble, you are either giveng to much or to little.
In my case, I have gestational diabetes, and due to my pregnancy, my blood sugars can swing either way. Besides, it's not low I'm worried about, it's high.
My Reli-On strips had a lot number that was being recalled. I called Walmart and they refused to replace them because they had not been notified of the recall. I offered to bring in the press release from the Abbott Labs website and the list of the lot numbers being recalled, but the individual I spoke with said that the Walmart corporate office had to authorize any replacements due to a recall.
Later I found an 1-800 phone number on the Abbott website. When I called it I was immediately put on the line with someone who grilled me with questions about the readings I was receiving, have I experienced any problems related to the use of this box of test strips, how many strips out of this box had I used, what is the serial number of the meter I am using, and so on.... Once they had established that I was not a lawsuit threat they informed me that they would send me a replacement box of strips only if I agreed to return the recalled box of strips to them (they would supply a return shipping package and label).
So, while Walmart refuses to exchange them and Abbott sends out my replacements, what am I supposed to do about monitoring my glucose levels? Ahhhhh....go buy another box of strips to use in the interim. Sounds like a win-win for Walmart and Abbott Labs.
god-
Are you serious? Do you work for the drug industry? You're telling this person to "grow up", and apparently you have no idea what you're talking about. Do you have any idea how big the drug industry is? 20% of the GNP. If it takes checkin every 100 strips to assure safety, then that's what they have to do. 360 million strips, that's crazy! Your are talking about an issue of life or death. Abbott Labs should have check this junk before it was sold. They make billions off the public and are lapcats of the FDA. What if someone died from a false reading on one of their meters? You grow up and get informed!
You uninformed loudmouthed idiot. I am a diabetic, as obviously you are not, and, as another diabetic stated, your body tells you when your sugar is high, or especially if it is too low! Also, if true that the readings give an erronious low reading, it will primarily affect those of us who are insulin dependent. We would drink a glass of oj, or eat a candy bar, but the worse that would happen is out sugar would temporarily go high, and if it, over time, went too high, we would know it by our body reacting differently than normal. That's why most diabetics are well served by having two different brands of meter/strips to verify accuracy when it appears there may be a problem, as suggested by body responses. BE THANKFUL THESE COMPANIES EXIST!! You castigate the ones who provide the help that does prolong life to those of us who would have died at a young age a few generations ago. Yes, GROW UP!!
Lets see. 360 million strips that cost the consumer an average of $1 per strip will not effect their bottom line. I would say that they are grossly overcharging the consumer - I.E me.
That's right, Greek. The same same thought crossed my mind --we are being grossly overcharged.
"The company said it expects little financial impact from the recall."
That's gotta be some margin.
Oh wow - with the holidays a lot of diabetics (including myself) tend to overindulge a little...guess I won't be doing that...
God some of you people bitch if your ice cream is too cold!
Evidently you have never heard of hypoglycemic unawareness. I developed it after 30 years and I do not feel them coming anymore. Just wake up in ambulance or in the ER.
Isn't it astounding that replacement will have NO financial impact on the company?
These strips are not inexpensive to customers, so how is there no impact on the producer?
the abbott "alpha trak" strips are not involved in the recall according to their customer service dept...for all you diabetic pet owners out there
It could be much worse, instead of Abbott, which at least is making some attempt at a recall, you could be dealing with a model corporate citizen like B of A or Chase.
I too went to Wal-mart to get a replacement... they hadn't heard about the recall and refused to replace the strips.... That's Walmart for you... always low prices, always lousy service.
I thought it was bad enough that these blood-suckers (sorry) figured out they can make billions more by giving away the testing devices and charging 1000X costs for the dang strips. With a deal like that, they should at least make sure the strips aren't killing people. The pharaceutical industry is right up there with the banks and insurance companies in funnelling money from the regular folks to the rich folks.
Considering how quality tends to plummet when production moves off-shore, it makes you wonder; where were these made?
I have the bad strips! I got a low reading and immediately sugared up, 15 mins later a new reading of 356 and I'm dosing insulin. This happened a few times. Life or death indeed! Shame on this not being more mainstream news. Insurance only allows a certain amount of insulin - is Abbot gonna pay $110.00 bucks for my insulin when I'm out early now?
Lets see. 350 million strips at approx. $1each (which is what they charge) will not make a finatial impact on them. So how over priced is the strip?
How do you like this idea? Recycling the closed unused unexpired diabetic test strips that every (diabetic has laying around) for cash, resold back to diabetics at cheaper rates. Sure beats having them expire and thrown out. Check us out at www.DTSbuyers.com