Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Leighann on October 19, 2010 at 3:13pm

(See my comment below...they seem to be working just fine in our PDM.)

Permalink Reply by Leighann on October 19, 2010 at 3:17pm

Our pharmacy covered the new strips at the same copay as always.

Do you have the FreeStyle promise card? It give a HUGE discount on the copay, up to $50 per month leaving you with a $15 copay.

Permalink Reply by Gail on October 22, 2010 at 2:17pm

Check out thr "Promise Program" for the test strips. You can find it on line. this program save me 50$ monthly!

Permalink Reply by Gail on October 22, 2010 at 2:25pm

The Promis Program by Abbott for Test strips saves you a lot of money. Call 866-246-2683 and they can help! Good luck! BTW, it saves me $450 monthly!

Permalink Reply by Leighann on October 19, 2010 at 3:12pm

We have the OmniPod and our pharmacy filled the prescription with the new test strips at the same copay we have always been paying. I have begun using the new strips and they are working in the meter.

Our new strips are the ones that say "Freestyle" and not "FreeStyle Lite." (As they always have been.)

Is the issue that your insurance won't cover the new strips? Or that you were told they don't work in the OmniPod? Because they were covered by ours and do seem to work.

I LOVE the new test strips. We were able to back down our lancing device from the 2 setting to 1, they take a tiny amount of blood, and the results seem quick.

If the OmniPod PDM has a Freestyle meter in it and the strips work in all the existing FreeStyle meters, I am not sure what the issue is here.

Permalink Reply by AML on October 19, 2010 at 3:25pm

The new strips are not approved for use with the OmniPod. Insulet does not recommend them. They are waiting for FDA approval and have told people to use the old strips. They may work fine but there is always a risk that there is something quirky about how the PDM processes the information I suppose.

Permalink Reply by Valerie on October 19, 2010 at 7:11pm

I work for a hospital and our in-house hospital retail pharmacy fills my scripts. Three months ago, they called me to ask if the Freestyle strips were being discontinued because all they could find from their distributors were Freestyle Lite strips. They finally found the regular ones for me but this month, my order had the new butterfly strips. I conducted my own personal test on the PDM and a Freestyle meter and the butterfly strips were only lower by 5 points. Amy Tenderich posted about this topic in July on diabetesmine.com where she reported that Abbott reps told her that the butterfly strips would be compatible with all Freestyle meters. As another poster pointed out, there's just a regular Freestyle meter inside the PDM. From my own pharmacy's response, I would guess that most pharmacies are going to stock the new butterfly strips even though Abbott says the old ones aren't being discontinued. I think they're going to be difficult to find. Personally, I liked the new strip as it was much easier to use with a much smaller blood sample. Since my test samples were only off by 5 points, maybe the new strip is more accurate, as Abbott claims.

Permalink Reply by AML on October 19, 2010 at 8:05pm

Valerie,
The only problem is Insulet can't/won't endorse the new strips yet. That means if you do have any problems, they are out of the loop becasue they said not to use the strips. It seems logical that the FreeStyle Flash inside the PDM works the same as other FreeStyle Flash meters but we don't know if there are any quirks to the way the PDM processes the BG number. I would hope for an emergency ruling from the FDA but I think it will take pressure from all of us.

Permalink Reply by Domo! on October 20, 2010 at 1:08am

i just went through a container of the new kinds.... i barely noticed the change until i saw the little blood sucking window(couldn't find the word). So... i don't know i guess do what i'm doing? hmmm

Permalink Reply by Steve Hagle on October 20, 2010 at 10:13pm

I just did a test with the old strip and the new strip from the same blood sample. The old test strip read 77 and the new strip read 75.

Permalink Reply by Steve D on October 21, 2010 at 10:24am

Well, Steve, I dont know about you but at 75 I need something to eat...so go EAT!!!!

Permalink Reply by 870allamerican on October 21, 2010 at 9:57am

I just ran into the local omnipod rep at the joslin diabetes center in connecticut. I asked him about the test strip issue. He said they are in fact in fda approval. He said to set the meter at 16 for all the freestyle lite strips and leave it there. They are okay to use.

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