Abbott Diabetes Care Recalls Tons of Glucose Test Strips–The US Has the FDA Recall Blues-Solution Has Been Touted Here for a Year-It’s Time for a Fix–Readers Have Voted

It’s just about one year now since I started this campaign with using Bar Codes, Microsoft Tags and I’m up to around 60 posts on the topic now, and just about every time there’s a recall, I do another post.  Look how retailers and consumers are using this technology but when it comes to something like recalls and counterfeit drugs can we do anything, nope.  I would say look at some other products if diabetics can’t rely on the accuracy of the read and now see what hassle Medicare gives you on using another brand if that has to happen. 

Better yet, you could game on a J and J product as so far their strips have been ok but tons other recalls, so I guess it’s time to play “musical glucose strips” and hope they are in the affordable tiers of your insurance plan.  There’s no way they are going to update formularies in time to accommodate any extra expense here and patients may end up with tons of time explaining to insurance carriers as to why they bought another product when it comes to reimbursements…hmmmm…let’s see how about a recall formulary to add in to the mess <grin>.  Of course I am saying that tonge and cheek as a bar code is better.  Your reimbursements from your insurance and Medicare unfortunately are at the bottom of the totem pole with anything to make it easier for you.  

Can we get some of those luddite pharma companies to get on board, nope.  How about those folks that recall devices, have they done anything, nope.  That means we now have post # 61 right here for my readers and the deaf ears of others to ignore I guess.  Granted this would take a pilot program to begin with but you have to start somewhere.  Microsoft Tags can be combined with RFID systems too, which some pharma companies are using, but it doesn’t do anything about recall information and does help recover stolen products.  We have 359 million products here subject to recall. 

Now if the the device and drug companies had their business intelligence wits about them, they would recognize this would stand to save them money.  A while back I had a nice tweet from an executive at Sanofi that said those exact words too.  If the FDA were thinking in the same realm, well guess what, audit trails for compliance on recalls, duh, duh, and duh again.  I have sent the suggestion to a few places as well as the FDA.  At the FDA it takes me 2 weeks to get the canned response that they received it and then it dies.  Most websites do that immediately and confirm receipt of an email, so we are a little slow there and sounds like we have human doing it when they have time to open the mail. 

EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT WANTING TO ENGAGE THE CONSUMER WITH MOBILE HEALTH TECHNOLOGY – OPEN EARS AND LISTEN AS THIS IS THE TICKET AS IT SHOWS VALUE IMMEDIATELY THEN OTHER PROGRAM WILL FOLLOW.  (One more big duh) 

Here’s one big hint, look at this survey and it’s always on the Medical Quack, beat the heck out of votes we see in Congress and many pharmacists like the idea too. 

Furthermore, you can use your cell phone to scan a tag on big chunk of hamburger meat but you can’t find out what has been recalled and what could maybe cause harm or kill your, let’s keep that a secret, right?  See the image to the right with a bar code you can scan with your phone.  FDA are you listing, Johnson and Johnson, are you listening as you are the poster child in all of this.  Well in the meantime if you are a diabetic do what the luddites want you to do to protect yourself from using strips that may give you the wrong results.  This of all products should be bar coded as we have so many people needing glucose strips!!  One more duh! 

Microsoft Tags on CBS Early Show – Wake Up FDA, Pharma and Medical Device Companies –Scan Those Drugs, Medical Devices and Synchronize with an FDA Tag Data Base – Recalls, Theft Tracking and More….

Scan that knee, hip, defibrillator before you use it, takes a few seconds and will help hospital registries function and less mistakes.

Medical Devices Controlling Costs and Creating Tag Registries for Implanted Devices Could Help

Want to put your lab reports or other document into your personal health record, that can be done too, scan and import.  The same technology can be used by the DEA to authenticate physicians too. 

RAZCODE (Microsoft Tags) Using Smart Phones to authenticate MDs When e-Prescribing Controlled Substances

Here’s my heat map so I can see who has scanned my tags, this would be nice for a pharma company to be able to help in the recall and to find stolen drugs. 

Microsoft Tag Bar Codes–Who’s Been Scanning the Medical Quack–The Bing Heat Map Tells All And Could Help Find Stolen or Expired Drugs and Devices With This Methodology

So far folks it doesn’t look like the drugs and device companies want to invest in safety and items here that show real value for the consumer, but will keep at it until he luddites wake up one day and I hope that is sooner than later.   In the meantime you can go to the FDA page, instead of having the convenience of scanning your strips with you phone and spend time reading and calculating to see if your strips are in the recalled lots.  BD

The FDA announced today that Abbott Diabetes Care has agreed to recall more than 350 lots of its blood glucose test strips because the products may give falsely low test results. According to the agency, such results may lead patients to try to raise their blood glucose levels unnecessarily, or patients may fail to treat elevated levels because of a falsely low reading. Either scenario poses risks to patients' health, say FDA officials.

The 359 lots of test strips being recalled are sold under the following brand names:

• Precision Xceed Pro,
• Precision Xtra,
• Medisense Optium,
• Optium,
• OptiumEZ and
• ReliOn Ultima.

The affected strips are used with Abbott's Precision Xceed Pro, Precision Xtra, MediSense Optium, Optium, Optium EZ and ReliOn Ultima blood glucose monitoring systems. The systems themselves are not included in the recall, which is related to the test strips' inability to absorb adequate blood for monitoring.

Abbott Diabetes Care Recalls Hundreds of Lots of Glucose Test Strips -- AAFP News Now -- American Academy of Family Physicians

Technorati Tags: Abbot Labs,recalls,FDA,medical devices,drugs,pharma,technology,Twitter,luddites,Microsoft,MicrosoftTags,cell phones,scanning