Freestyle test strips

I just decided to switch pharmacies. Imagine my surprise when i was told thay dont make freestyle strips anymore. my daughter is on the 1st generation omnipod. so all these months we have been using freestyles new strips, no problem right? walmart, the doctor and omnipod never said anything. I noticed the freestyle boxes were different but never questioned it. Cvs pharmacy says now all freestyle makes is freestyle lite. I called abott labs, and was told freestyle strips (new) have not been approved FDA, and they would send me the original strips, well guess what they didnt. I then called omnipod, they said they apologize that i didnt know. I am still using the new freestyle test strips for my daughter, the ones with the butterfly. My question to anyone is can u use the new freestyle lites in omnipod 1st generation?

I had experienced a similar problem. When I called abbott to find out about getting the classic strips they referred me to www.minipharmacy.net

They carry both the new and old strips and accept most all insurances.

There are two new kinds of freestyle strips. If your box just says freestyle then you’re fine. If ANYWHERE on your box it stays freestyle lite then they will not work. The newer freestyle strips are not FDA approved with the Omnipod yet but many of us have been using them with varying degrees of success. If they’ve been working for you I wouldn’t worry to much about it.

Another discussion on this very topic may help if you haven’t already seen it:
http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/omnipodusers/forum/topics/butterfly-test-strips
I’ve been testing the strips with the PDM and have not noticed any significant differences. They seem to be working just fine.

I get my strips from http://fifty50pharmacy.com/ I recently switched to them because I like that they donate 1/2 of their profits to JDRF. They have been sending me the old strips.

I’ve tried the new ones and they worked fine for me but I decided to switch pharmacies. If you want the old strips give Fifty50 a try.

just emailed omnipod, to let them know i don’t appreciate a notification about freestyle test strips, we don’t receive our pods from insulet corp. Our insurance did not have a contract with insulet, so they made a deal with a outside medical supply to get our pods. I’m thinking thats how no one contacted us. I did a search the other day and found this site, to get my info, about the test strips. But, my email to omnipod, i told them for all the profits and popularity they have, they could have called me directly, or sent a letter. You are talking about someones life here. More specific, my daughter, you know? God, is it not enough that you feel type 1 diabetes controls everything you do as a family. I tell my 14 yr old daughter everyone has something to deal with in their lives, and this is her little bump in hers. But when issues of test strips come up, and know one tells us, i’m a little perturbed. Thanks for letting me sound off.

We use omnipod, and we get them DIRECTLY from Insulet. No One Told Us Anything About New Strip, and we were getting some really strange numbers, and LOTS of Meter Errors. Thumbs down to Insulet on this one!

Sorry about the frustration. I was actually among the first customers to point this put to insulet. You can do a search on this site about my issues months ago that started the debate.

A few points to clarify, Insulet did send an email to customers I received one as well as many others. You should make sure you are on the list. They have a special posting on their website as well.

The issue is with Abbott and not Insulet. Abbott was the company doing the tests and sent all these strips to the vendors without any notification. In fact, to this date I have not seen any information from them regarding this issue. Insulet would have no way of knowing of the issues unless they were pointed out by Abbott. Abbott released them to the general public before having FDA approval for the pod etc.

I also use Edgepark who also had no clue what was going on. They did call me a month ago to let me know and I laughed. I have been in contact with senior members of their firm about my case.

My take is the maker of the strips does not care about us. That is my opinion based on this scenario and their lack of followup with me. I was given the same crappy corporate line call our attorneys etc. Really lame, but it is what it is.

Personally, I use the older style strips as I an not inclined to question whether or not the numbers are correct I have other things to focus on.

Good luck and I hope this sheds a little light for you.

I got the notification email on 11-5-10. I don’t remember how OmniPod got my email address. It may have been from ordering supplies.