Regulators of medicines and medical equipment are today warning that diabetes patients should be on the look out for a particular type of blood glucose meters . According to reports, the fault in the equipment could result in a serious risk of insulin overdose, a mistake that could result in hypoglycaemic coma.
The MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) found that some blood glucose meters could give readings that were far too high. The readings, in some instances, have been found to be 18 times higher than the actual level. The risk posed to type 1 diabetics and type 2 diabetics who require insulin is obvious.
The blood glucose meters that might be affected include FreeStyle and FreeStyle Mini, once known as Therasense. Furthermore, Medisense Optium Xceed manufactured by Abbott could be at fault. LifeScan OneTouch, LifeScan PocketScan and LifeScan Induo manufactured by LifeScan are also under scrutiny from MHRA. A spokesman for the regulatory group said: “the MHRA is concerned that this change in unit of measurement could lead users to think that the blood glucose result is high and thus alter the treatment regime. This could lead to patients self-administering an insulin overdose and going into and hypoglycaemic coma.”

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