From the News Wire: Meters Vary

The NYT reports that the accuracy of meters isn't all that great. OK maybe not huge news, but now the Feds maybe on the case.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/health/policy/19monitor.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=glucose%20meter&st=cse

Federal officials may soon require improvements for the glucose monitors used by more than 11 million diabetics in the United States.

The rise in the use of home glucose monitors, even by hospitalsFood and Drug Administration, which for decades has followed international standards that allow the devices to be wrong by as much as 20 percent. Such a wide error rate can leave patients vulnerable to severe problems, including seizures,unconsciousness and coma....

In June, the agency pressed the international group that sets the standards to tighten them. If the group refuses to act, the agency “may instead recognize other (higher) performance standards” on its own, according to a June letter from Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, the agency commissioner.

A change in the international standards is the easiest and best option, officials said. The International Organization for Standardization, which sets the standards, can act quickly and broadly. But the F.D.A. can change the rules itself through a more time-consuming and cumbersome process.

Officials said they would keep pushing until monitor accuracy improves, a promise that diabetes doctors cheered...

<more at the Times>

Who are these Officials? Are there guys with whistles and black and white stripped shirts running around somewhere refereeing diabetes? 'Cause if there are I want to do some jaw boning.

Better meters would be cool. but hey ref could you maybe blow the whistle on the moving picks on the insurance people who make us do the hoop game?

Oh and it is nice that the doctors are cheered. Those of us living with these things simply know that one of the things that varies with diabetes is meter readings. We also know that while the refs may have a technical timeout in June to hold a conference about the meters nobody told diabetes and it keeps acting like the clock is running. So we keep playing D with the meters we got.

All the more reason we use WaveSense.

(sorry for the bizarre use of fonts this started in a test run of Safari and I still haven't been able to get it cleaned up.)