KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Army medical officials in Europe said Monday they hope to replenish faulty stocks of Abbott Diabetes Care glucose test strips by next week, following the Dec. 22 worldwide recall of 359 different lots of the product.
In the meantime, they said that not all diabetic patients will be individually notified of the recall, since U.S. military pharmacies have not been directed to do so.
Some patients, however, may get a courtesy call. Heidelberg Medical Department Activity, because it has the staffing to do so, is trying to contact roughly 300 diabetics seen at its five clinics, according to Europe Regional Medical Command officials.
Patients who run out of strips should check with their local military pharmacy, said Army Col. Octavio Mont, ERMC pharmacy consultant and chief of pharmacy at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. If supplies are available, patients may receive a partial refill.
ERMC officials said patients may still use the recalled strips, as not all are faulty. If it takes longer than 5 seconds to get a reading, they should throw the strip away and test again.
The recall was issued after results showed that the strips might report inaccurately low blood glucose levels, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
When it receives new test strip stocks, ERMC will post the information at: https://ermc.amedd.army.mil/
Information about the affected test strips can be found on the Abbott Web site at: http://www.precisionoptiuminfo.com
