Fake Test Strips Giving Nightmares to Diabetics

The counterfeit versions of test strips commonly used to monitor blood sugar levels in glucose monitors made by a Johnson&Johnson company, made an uproar among the people when the Food and Drug Administration of U.S. criticized them in a public alert on Friday.

"The counterfeit test strips potentially could give incorrect blood glucose values - either too high or too low - which might result in a patient taking either too much or too little insulin and lead to serious injury or death," an FDA statement said.

“Diabetics who purchased the counterfeit test strips should stop using them, replace them immediately and call a doctor,” the FDA said.

The phony test strips are for use with various models of LifeScan Inc.'s OneTouch brand of blood glucose monitors. LifeScan is part of New Brunswick, a New Jersey, based Johnson & Johnson working unit.

The counterfeit test strips included those sold under the brand One Touch Basic Profile with lot numbers 272894A, 2619932 or 2606340. English, Greek and Portuguese writing was displayed on the outer carton.

Another fake batch was sold under the One Touch Ultra name with the lot number 2691191. English and French text appeared on the carton.
The fake test strips were sold in 50-count packages, the FDA said.

Well, right now neither the FDA nor the company officials are comfortable in analyzing the, exact number of fake strips already distributed ,though it seems that a large chunk of U.S. is under threat.

The fake strips were distributed vastly but primarily in Ohio, New York, Florida, Maryland and Missouri by Medical Plastic Devices Inc., of Quebec, Canada, and Champion Sales Inc., of Brooklyn, New York, a source in FDA said.

LifeScan said it had immediately notified the FDA once it learned about the counterfeit test strips and was "vigorously pursuing legal actions."

To give answer to the incident LifeScan delivered a press release which says “Performance testing of the counterfeit test strips obtained by LifeScan to date shows erratic test results that do not meet LifeScan's performance specifications. It is unknown how counterfeit test strips which may be in the marketplace will perform. LifeScan cannot ensure the accuracy and reliability of blood glucose test results obtained from test strips it did not manufacture.”

So it’s hoped that the public alert sprayed all across can save lives of the American citizens, it’s also taken in consideration that a corporate benchmark like Johnson & Johnson will suffocate the growth of polluted medical implementations.