Pharmac has signed a provisional contract with an Auckland company to be the sole supplier of new glucose meters for diabetics. About 150,000 people are affected. Problem: no consumer testing – no backlight on the new one which is a bit tough when you are having a hypo event in the middle of the night; not enough memory to record history of blood sugar levels; batteries which conk out under 10C; sole supply out of Korea – the most stable peninsula we know? Tony Ryall is pressuring them to save $10 million through this contract. He ducked answering questions in the House today about this by exiting to comfort his upset mate, Nick Smith. Watch Campbell Live on TV3 tonight for this item.
I am so relieved and reassured that Labour are helping to oppose this! If Pharmac could tell us the difference between a type one and type two diabetic we might not be so worried, it’s very unsettling. The costs saved by Pharmac will be outweighed by the hospital admissions
Thanks Maryan! Good job today!
Other issues include but are not limited to:
-No ability to test for blood ketones (we would have to go back to urine testing)
-Current suppliers put a substantial amount of help back into the community by sponsoring children’s camps, medical conferences and many others. With these companies gone we miss out on these events to learn more about management of the disease and to meet others dealing with the same issues.
-No usability testing of the new meter by actual users in the community
-Not able to be used by pregnant women or infants
As one of those 150,000 people who will have to learn this new meter, and skip using it in winter when it gets to 10C or below, I am rather concerned at how I will get my blood sugars tested when feeling the symptoms of a hypo in winter. Maybe a short trip to the emergency room would be in order…..although driving with a hypo is far worse than driving drunk….
Good call David, it is worse. It will get even worse for you when I pull up in my Ambulance and pump some glucagon into you.
Funny you should say that softstarter, I’m actually an ambulance driver, and a diabetic.
One of my main issues with the new meters is how difficult they are to use while driving. Not sure what the combined effect of increased hypo call-outs (i.e. less breaks for me) plus increased difficulty in juggling the steering wheel, the traffic AND these new fangled meters will be. Probably quite ugly.
This is not a case of consumer resistance to change. There are serious issues as raised in 3000 submissions as to the safety and suitability of this medical device. For detailed information on the specifics of the shortfalls you can view the submissions on line at Diabetes Youth New Zealand, Diabetes New Zealand Auckland and Diabetes New Zealand Websites. These along with the multitude of individual submissions outline the numerous shortfalls in moving from current meters to inferior technology. I believe that the shortfalls will result in increased costs due to increased hospitalisations, ambulance callouts and longterm mismanagement of the condition at the very least. There are many people who would have gladly worked with both the Government and Pharmac as consumer advisors to find suitable solutions to cutting costs but this would not be one of them. Please feel free to contact me on any specifics as I have researched this extensively. Thank you for your efforts today it has given many of us hope that there exists an element of understanding.
Another year another Pharmac change. I’m 45, a type I diabetic, and it’s not the first time I’ve had to change meters due to Pharmac changes.
Yes, I am concerned about the impact of new meters and I’d like some assurances that I will get the same level of service from a new meter that I do with the old. My current meter also checks for ketones (important for Type I diabetics to check) and I do believe there’s no provision for this with the new meters. So I guess that’s something that will only be tested for when I do my blood tests.
I agree that there’s a certain level of self-management required with diabetes, and yes, we need to be encouraging this, but this whole decision smacks of one made solely on financial grounds rather than taking into account usability and practicality.
What’s next – the Lantus slow insulin that’s dramatically reduced the levels of hypos I experience to be dropped as well, and replaced by a “cheaper” alternative?
I’m currently using an Optium Xceed subsidised by Pharmac, and guess what? It doesn’t have a backlight and can’t operate below 10 degrees. Neither could the machine I had before it, nor the machine before that. Strangely, I’ve yet to die from the lack of these apparently essential features.
If you can’t see the screen, turn the light on. If it’s too cold for the machine to operate, put it in your pocket for a minute or so. Basically, there’s no reason NZ’s taxpayers should be forking over an extra $10 mil every year just so you don’t have to perform those not-exactly-onerous tasks.
With at least one of the current meters you put a chip into it to register the code number of the strips you will use, their use-by date etc. With the proposed new one you have to key in the data using the little arrow buttons. It is pretty clear that older people, or people with bad eyesight etc. will find this much harder to use.
The strips for the proposed machines also have a shorter shelf-life than the current ones.
We are told there will be a saving of $10m—but costs of things like this aren’t only financial.
And going to one single supplier?
And junking all those machines we already have in the country? So much for sustainability etc.
And ignoring ease and familiarity of use?
This has all the hallmarks of an ill-thought out change, and needs questioning.
Thanks for doing so.
My mum used to say if men had periods there’d be a cure, or at least the products would be state subsidised.
AS i understand it, if you are type 2, and self manage through diet and exercise you will not receive funding for a new meter, so you will need to buy a new meter yourself. If there is say 120000 people in that position it will be a big windfall for the new supplier.
A very good play of the day Maryan! You would have to say though that today’s play of the day went to Big Gerry for his smack down on Lianne.
@waterboy!
! That sucks! Even type two have blackouts! 
!
Keep carbohydrate intake to very low or zero and very few meters would be necessary.
@Ted, at my EMT level there’s always backup
Hello I received a email from Pharmac saying click this link there is a “new” meter that meets all our concerns but is not even on the manufacturers website and the software is not user-friendly and doesn’t work on 64 bit machines and looks like it was made for windows 98
“Keep carbohydrate intake to very low or zero and very few meters would be necessary.”
What a bizarre comment.
How about we ban all unhealthy food and make it compulsary for all citizens to partake in 30 minutes of vigourous physical exercise per day as well.
It seems to me that if one company is to get a monopoly on the testers someone must have received incentives to push this.
I don’t know about nutrition and whatnot, but I read something about no carbs causing health problems!
@Larsactionhero –
What a shocker! 
I don’t know about nutrition and whatnot, but I read something about no carbs causing health problems!
Well, the first part of your sentence is correct, at least. The second part is a particularly stupid and offensive thing to write on a thread about diabetes.
Hey!
I didn’t bring up the no carbs thing, I was just responding to it! 
I don’t get how it’s offensive
I apologise for snapping at you – it’s not exactly common knowledge outside of the insulin-injecting community, so calling people stupid for not knowing it is just wrong.
However, it’s simple enough to explain – carbs raise your blood sugar faster and higher than injected insulin or the bodies of insulin-resistant type 2 diabetics can respond to it. They’re a completely non-essential part of the diet and eating them is the main reason diabetics have problems controlling their blood sugar. Telling us to eat carbs to avoid health problems reads like a sick joke – hence the grumpy response.