|
Washington: The US Food and Drug Administration is warning diabetes
patients that some blood sugar tests can give inaccurate results in
patients taking other medications.
Public health regulators told consumers not to
use certain glucose testing strips from Switzerland's Roche, Abbot
Laboratories and other companies in combination with dialysis and
other biologic drugs. According to FDA, those formulations can
elevate blood sugar level results falsely, raising the risk of
insulin overdose.
People with the disease often have to inject
insulin, which helps break down carbohydrates, because their bodies
have become resistant to the protein. Dialysis and so-called
immunoglobulins are most often taken by patients with serious
medical ailments, including kidney failure and rheumatoid arthritis.
The biologic drugs' labeling already warns that they can interfere
with glucose monitoring tests, but the FDA says the products
continue to be used together despite the past warnings.
Since 1997 the FDA received 13 reports of death
related to the use of glucose testing strips and biologic drug
formulations. "Six of the deaths have occurred since 2008 despite
FDA's efforts to communicate the risk," the agency said. In some
cases, patients experience brain damage, coma and confusion before
death. In a letter issued on Thursday, the agency urged doctors and
nurses to report any suspected problems related to glucose strips.
Many of the testing strips are used in hospital
and nursing facilities, "which should instead use a laboratory assay
to measure a patient's glucose if the patient is also receiving an
interfering product," the FDA said in a statement. Brands affected
by the announcement include Roche's Accu-Chek Comfort Curve test
strips and Abbott's Freestyle test strips.
A spokesman for North Chicago based Abbott said
the company has been working on a new version of the Freestyle that
deal with the problems cited by the FDA.
Source: AP
Copyright © 2006-2010.
www.diabetesdiabeticdiet.com. All Right Reserved.
All trademarks, registered
trademarks, product names and company names or logos mentioned herein are the
property of their respective owners.
Disclaimer:
www.diabetesdiabeticdiet.com
does not endorse the use, or effectiveness of any diets. This site is
designed to provide information, not medical advice.
|
