The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a public health
notification against using some certain glucose-monitoring
technologies, saying results can be skewed.
The FDA warning involves technology that employs a specific test
strip when the patients are also receiving therapeutic products
containing non-glucose sugars. Non-glucose sugars contained in some
therapeutic products can falsely elevate glucose results, which may
prompt excessive insulin administration.
These therapeutic products, which are labeled to indicate that
they may interfere with this particular glucose monitoring
technology, are mostly used in patients with serious medical
conditions, according to the FDA.
Manufacturers of the glucose test strips include Roche Holding
AG (RHHBY), Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and Home Diagnostics Inc.
(HDIX).
For more information about the list of manufacturers and brands
of glucose test strips that contain the chemical that reacts with
the non-glucose sugars, visit the FDA's public health notification
Web site
http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/PublicHealthNotifications/ucm176992.htm
The FDA's advice for patients can be found at
http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/AlertsandNotices/PatientAlerts/ucm177189.htm
-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480;
john.kell@dowjones.com