I’ve been collecting old glucometers / blood glucose monitors and broken insulin pumps for recycling through my service MedeWaste.com over the past year & have reached the 100 device mark… sadly that’s a lot less than the 25,000,000 estimated glucometers in use in Canada & the USA but it’s a start. And I’m proud to say that this milestone is a result of INDIVIDUAL action while companies like Johnson & Johnson, Bayer & Medtronic have turned a blind eye to the project and the environmental footprint that their products have when they become e-waste.
Finally got my first monitor from someone in Canada, the other 99 are from as far away as California and Utah. I am very thankful and amazed by the postage people are paying to ensure that their old glucometers get recycled - some people are paying up to $20 in postage for which I am grateful.
I'd like to be able to refurbish these devices for reuse instead of simple recycling (resource recovery) but I think that giving a monitor away to someone or to a homeless shelter is pretty useless without a source for low cost test strips.
My question is this: Has anyone purchased & used generic test strips? They don't seem to be available in Canada, likely because our government bends over backwards to protect large corporate interests over the public good.
Are the generic strips equivalent to name brand? Are they much cheaper?
I don’t have an answer to your question… but I just wanted to say how proud I am of your efforts, and I greatly commend you for taking great steps to help protect the environment, and reduce our footprints in this world! Thank you!
Thank you Lizmari but it’s not just my effort, it’s also that of the people who have chosen to send their meters to me rather than doing the easier thing & pitching them out.
I don’t think I have ever seen a generic test strip. I believe that each company that produces their meter, are the one and only manufacturer of that meter’s test strips. If they are available, I have never seen them in the US.
There is a meter sold exclusively by Walmart here in the states that is like 10 bucks and the strips are about 50 cents a piece w/o insurance, and i think that Target sells a similar meter.
it’s a real shame that the devices can’t generally be redistributed but for now I think resource recovery is a good second best answer… even better when the work is done by domestic processors who keep jobs in Canada & the USA.
Hmm… maybe I was confused but I thought I read something about generic strips at one point… being self employed you don’t get health benefits & companies like Blue Cross won’t cover pre-existing conditions on a single plan usually.
Seems to me that if there aren’t generic supplies available there ought to be, just like generic pills and generic ink cartridges.
Unfortunately another poster noted that the genstrips are only valid for use with some One Touch models, purchased BEFORE 2010. How many people remember when they purchased their meter ?
"GenStripTM is for use only with new LifeScan® Ultra®, Ultra®2, and UltraMini® meters purchased before July 2010."
For me the generic strips are more expensive because my insurance company will not pay for them. I use a mail order pharmacy. My pharmacy will also not honor the rebates if they come in the little card form. The rebates have to look like check.
I have found that several meter companies will send out rewards cards when you warranty the meter that you can take to the pharmacy and no matter how many strips you are prescribed the cost is a flat rate.
I would also be leery of using a used meter. I just had 3 meters recalled recently. These were brand new meters. What happens if there is a recall on the meter and you do not know about it because the warranty can not been transferred? Who is going to be liable for that?
Out of curiosity I ordered a box of the Genstrips from ebay. When they arrived today I tried a few comparison tests against the "brand name" strips for my Ping (mfg 2011), Ultrasmart and my original OT meters (mfg pre 2010). I found them to be surprisingly accurate with all three meters. Well within the usual tolerances as far as strips go. I would certainly order them again.
