Diabetics, watch out for fake glucose test strips

updated 6:49 p.m. ET Oct. 13, 2006

WASHINGTON - The government warned diabetics Friday to watch for counterfeit versions of test strips commonly used to monitor blood sugar levels.

The test strips, for use in glucose monitors made by a Johnson & Johnson company, were distributed nationwide, the Food and Drug Administration said in a public alert.

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, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson.

The counterfeit test strips could give incorrect blood glucose values, leading patients to take too little or too much insulin and suffer injury or death, the FDA said. The agency said it hasn’t received any such reports.

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

The counterfeits are:

• OneTouch Basic/Profile, lot numbers 272894A, 2619932 and 2606340.
• OneTouch Ultra, lot number 2691191.

The FDA is investigating but did not know how many of the counterfeits were sold, an agency spokeswoman said. They were distributed nationwide but primarily in Ohio, New York, Florida, Maryland and Missouri by Medical Plastic Devices Inc., of Quebec, Canada, and Champion Sales Inc., of Brooklyn, N.Y., the FDA said.

The alert came a day after LifeScan said it was voluntarily recalling one lot of its SureStep Pro test strips (lot number 2634187008) and a single lot of its OneTouch SureStep test strips (lot number 2627353). The lots contain some test strips that don’t give proper confirmation readings, the company said.

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