Does anyone know if the new blood glucose meters on the market now are REALLY Y2K compliant? The tech support people at the companies who manufacture these meters (i.e. Precision QID glucometer) assure me that since the product does not have a date field that is settable by a technician or the end user then it is compliant. I question this however because these meters can be downloaded using software that will provide previous meter readings by time, day, and year. Since the capability for this download exists, it is obvious that these meters themselves track the date and may therefore be non-compliant. What good will 3,6, or 12 months worth of blood glucose testing strips do for you if your meter does not function? Any feedback on this issue would be greatly appreciated.

-- Van Pennington (vpbna@mindspring.com), October 09, 1998

Answers

Van,

I have an Accu-Chek Advantage and the date/time IS controlled by the user. As your particular glucometer won't cooperate, you might want to look at the Advantage--it's on sale at a good price at Kroger until about 10/24 in my area, as are the lancets, plus you get some new style test strips free. By the way, I have two "jabber-stabbers," a B-D and an Accu-Chek Softclix. There's quite a difference, the Accu-Check is much kinder and gentler! (However, its lancets are expensive and I haven't yet found a generic.)

Regards,

Aitch

-- Aitch (jimp7@mindspring.com), October 10, 1998.

Van, you might want to just get a manual testing kit for your survival/first aid kit. I've used those often as a nurse, and in my experience they are as accurate as the digital types. You simply put a drop of blood on the strip, wait a few seconds, wipe off the strip then compare the color change with the chart on the side of the strip bottle. Even though it might sound low-tech to you, to me it's more reliable than the digital machines which I have found give false readings too often if they're not kept absolutely clean between readings. Plus, the bottle the strips comes in is small and more portable than the machines, and requires no batteries. Perfect for Y2K :)

Chris

-- Chris (catsy@pond.com), October 10, 1998.