June 23, 2017 – Test Strips

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Anchor lead: The FDA has warned against buying glucose meter test strips privately, Elizabeth Tracey reports

If you have diabetes and test your blood sugar regularly, you know that glucose test strips are often very expensive, so you may be tempted to buy them from Ebay or elsewhere to save money. Don’t, the FDA has warned. Rita Kalyani, a diabetes expert at Johns Hopkins, explains why.

Kalyani: Even if it’s in the packaging you don’t know if it’s expired, if it’s been stored properly, if its been tampered with, these test strips really need to be stored and properly used in order for them to appropriately report blood glucose. It really has to come in the package, and it really has to be sold by the people who are licensed to sell them. So the FDA has issued a warning that patients should not buy unopened vials of glucose test strips because there’s no way of knowing whether they are still in good condition to be used.   :30

Kalyani says that newer technologies are on the horizon that may make glucose test strips obsolete, and other management strategies may allow you to test less often to save money, but don’t buy privately. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.