Over the past few months, I have let my diabetes get the better of me. I have been having health problems lately because of the fact that I allowed my blood glucose level to get out of control. Diabetes is not a forgiving disease. If you don’t control your diabetes, it controls you. I am tired of being controlled by diabetes, and my poor control of the disease. I am tired of feeling poorly. I decided to do something about it.
First step is that I got my blood glucose meter to check what my glucose level was. It’s hard to improve if you don’t know exactly where you stand. Oops. There is a problem. I don’t have any test strips. So, I started looking all around Davao City, where I live, but I could not find any test strips for my meter.
I bought my meter when I lived in General Santos City, so I thought they would probably have strips there. I called my sister-in-law who lives in General Santos and asked her to check around town to see if she can get me some test strips. No dice! Every store said that they were discontinued. I did some research and found that the strips were still being made, these stores just discontinued them.
After this, I recalled, a number of years ago, a friend who also has diabetes was shopping for test strips, and was unable to get the right strips for his meter too. We found out at the time that it seemed that stores would carry a certain brand of meters and strips. After a few years they would change to stocking a different brand. In effect, what they were doing was switching brands, because then you could not buy strips for your meter anymore, and you would be forced to buy a new meter, just so that you could get strips to test your glucose level! Frankly, this is a scam in my opinion. However, I have talked to other diabetics in the Philippines and they tell me the same story is happening in their town too.
Well, I broke down and purchased a new blood glucose meter the other day, and I stocked up on strips too. I could not over supply myself on the strips, as they have an expiration date, so I could only buy what would be used within the expiration period. Oh well…
Hi Bob,
Even though i’m not diabetic, that sort of thing really bugs me to.
I use to prefer buying quality items that lasted many years,with parts readily available.
Its a common problem with many items in this modern throw away society.
A few years ago i bought a Siemens cellphone,battery died about 1yr later.
Could not buy a replacement anywhere,contacted the manufacturer.”Sorry Sir,thats a deleted model now,no spares available”.I was really mad and swore never to buy their products again.
When i bought my current cp a Motorola,i bought a spare battery to.
regards Chas.
nice post- yeah, it’s a scam- these companies all make their own glucometers with strips that only work for that monitor, in order to ‘lock in’ the patient to buying their strips- this is analagous to printer ink, although the ethics of exploiting a diabetic patient are quite different than a computer shopper- the other side to this is insurance- i would eagerly wager that insurance companies behind-doors deal with glucometer companies to further lock in patient groups- so if you have insurance X, they only cover glucometer Y, so when the patient goes home, lo and behold, they must buy strips only for glucometer Y- i have actually seen this- a patient has glucometer X/strips X at home, they change their insurance, and are forced to change to glucometer Y/strips Y!? (presumably many glucometers are trashed this way?)- and of course your point about periodically ‘upgrading’ glucometers/strips hikes profits- i think our best hope is with universal health coverage/single payer, which when instantiated could use leverage to negotiate for a cheap, standardized glucometer/strips for all patients- anyone who wants a ‘fancier’ glucometer could opt out, but that way every diabetic could be guaranteed a near universal glucometer/strips for easy, cheaper access to supplies- cheers
Hi frank – Indeed it’s a scam just like the printer ink! Good analogy there.
Hi chasdv – Oh yes, I’ve been through the same thing with cellphones myself! What a scam! Good move on buying the extra battery on your next purchase! I think that the throw away society, though, is going to fade into a relic of the past. With current economic conditions, people will learn to live more efficiently.