BD to stop making diabetes meters
I see that BD has decided to stop making diabetes meters.As a past user of their meters (it came with the Minimed pump) this is no surprise to me, it was a most frustrating meter to use. What I wonder is what this means to current Minimed pump users that are using that particular meter.
I'm hoping that Minimed goes with a OneTouch-based solution, these are reliable and the strips are covered by most health insurance carriers.
Are you using one of the BD meters from Minimed? If so, please let me know if you've heard from Minimed about their replacement plans.
Labels: technology
posted by Bernard @ 5:29 PM
6 Comments:
I have a BD meter that I've never opened that goes with my pump. I'd also be ecstatic if they went with One Touch. I'll try and ask the minimed rep next time I talk to him and get back to you--this is if I don't forget!
Minimed won't go with OneTouch because OneTouch is owned by Johnson and Johnson, who happen to own Animas as well.
Hello!! I agree it is going to be interesting to see what happens from here.....One of Minimed's big sellers is the LINK meter - so unless they create one of their own, they will be left to adapt their technology to another glucose meter!! Will be interesting to see....I am not overly worried, as a 522 user - I can use any meter and manually enter the BG reading - as I do not from time to time with my back-up meter. I don't like the prospects of the BD meter going away....the strips will become a HOT ITEM in the years to come.....
I will watch and see how this unfolds......interesting, I would think the BGtesting market would be a goldmind, for the amount the test strips cost!!!
I never had any problems with the BD meter. I ended up having to switch to an Ultra Smart because of insurance issues. My copay for a 3 month supply of BD test strips would have been over 600 dollars, but with the Ultra smart, I don’t have a copay for strips. Not hard to decide that one! I wonder what meter they will try to integrate with?
I was disappointed when I learned that the meter that would accompany my Minimed pump was made by BD, as I've had problems with BD meters in the past. They tend to give high, erratic readings that would mask a low sugar condition. I originally tested my BD against three competing brands (Bayer Ascencia, Lifescan and the Swedish manufacturer of Walmart's ReliOn and Sidekick meters, all of which were consistent and agreed with each other. When I received the Minimed Link by BD I tested to see how inaccurate it was and found it reading an average of 22% higher than the others (range 3% to 50% higher). That usually translates to about 2 units of Humalog although the maximum error translated to 4 units. It doesn't matter that much if I use just the one meter and am conservative in setting my limits as the system will eventually adjust to the errors.
There is a Web page that describes a new radio-linked Minimed implantable continuous reading monitor being tested in Europe now. Each one is good for about a year. Annual minor surgery would be worth it.
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