I hope you thought that my title for this month’s article was as silly to read as it was to write.
Remember these glucometers? OneTouch Ultra, OneTouch UltraSmart, Accu-Chek Advantage, Accu-Chek Compact, FreeStyle Flash, FreeStyle Freedom, Bayer Contour, OneTouch UltraMini, OneTouch Ultra2, Accu-Chek Aviva, Accu-Chek Nano, FreeStyle Lite, Bayer Contour USB, OneTouch Verio, OneTouch Verio IQ, Accu-Chek Guide, Accu-Chek Guide Me, Contour Next, Contour Next One, True Metrix, OneTouch Verio Flex, OneTouch Verio Reflect, Contour Next Gen, FreeStyle Precision Neo, ReliOn Prime, ReliOn Premier, and ReliOn Platinum.
Not to mention all the smaller names and generic brands.
One would think the glucometer has pretty much gone the way of the dodo bird; extinct.
Oh, on the contrary. It couldn’t be further from the truth.
There is not a diabetes household in existence that has disposed of their glucometers. They’re just too important. So when I see a glucometer like PIP Blood Glucose Monitoring on Amazon for as little as $29.99, quite frankly, I smile a little.
You’d better know the big name, because they’re not out there sharing their once-valuable brand recognition the way they used to. You don’t see name
s like Johnson & Johnson prominently tied to OneTouch anymore, and you certainly don’t see them dominating diabetes conferences the way they once did.
What you will see much more of are Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs).
Yet there are still those who will tell you, “If you really want to know your number, stab yourself.” Most reliable. Less chance for electronic error.
I’ll challenge that, but I’ll also say this: I could probably find many more homes living with diabetes that don’t have a CGM than homes that don’t have a glucometer.
So who decided this?
Who decided we no longer need ads, commercials, and full marketing campaigns to influence which glucometer people choose? Who decided the glucometer was no longer as important a product for people with diabetes; so much so that investment dollars shifted heavily toward CGMs?
Why?
The answer, of course, is money.
Take this with a grain of salt, but you can pay anywhere from $21 to $80 a month for glucometer supplies, and anywhere from six to ten times that amount per month for CGM costs.
Here’s the interesting part.
Many people with diabetes will tell you they have a backup for their CGM. And most of those same people will tell you that their backup for their glucometer…
…is another glucometer.
Odd, isn’t it?
With all the bells and whistles that come with CGMs today, the old reliable glucometer still sits quietly in the drawer, and we all know it’s only a matter of time before it gets called back into play.
So as much as things are constantly changing…
They’re still very much the same.
Make no mistake: we love CGMs. But to the point where we rely on them 100%?
I don’t think so.
So how much progress are we really making?
Food for thought. Share yours.
I’m a diabetes dad.
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