[Diabetes-talk] Guidance on talking glucose monitor

Mike Freeman k7uij at panix.com
Fri Apr 2 02:40:12 UTC 2010 

Eileen:

Mild question: why is it that everyone immediately thinks that because NFB 
may endorse equipment, it's either (a) getting special publicity and/or (b) 
is getting money out of it? In other words, why is NFB (and not ACB) 
automatically imputed to be doing everything for nefarious purposes or with 
nefarious motives? End of query.

I assure you that NFB does not endorse or recommend a product because of any 
special arrangements. In fact, if Chris Gray of ACB and his Bay Area Digital 
Company actually come out with a bg meter system that works well, DAN and I 
will recommend it. And if the Solo system works out well, I will recommend 
it also.

In fact, as some on this forum can atest, I am not totally satisfied with 
*any* meter (for the sighted or the blind) at present. It seems to me that 
manufacturers can and ought to do far better with both consistency 
(precision) and accuracy than they do today and apparently the FDA is 
beginning to think likewise.

You will note that NFB has not taken a position with respect to JAWS, Window 
Eyes, SuperNova, NVDA, System Access or any other screen-reader. Why? 
Because we think that competition is good for us and given our small market 
size, there's precious little of it.

That being said, however, I believe that NFB/DAN would be remiss in not 
recommending a meter if it worked and was accessible. Until recently, at 
least, the PV was the only truly accessible meter that had its 510(k) 
certification and was on the market. I wish the SensoCard Plus from the UK 
were 510(k) approved over here as there were some features of it I liked. 
But it is not so we work with what we have.

AS for the problem with your previous meter, I suspect that somewhere 
between your meter getting sent back and it being tested, the linkage 
between you and it got lost so I wouldn't hold your breath insofar as 
learning what might have been wrong. Frankly, it has been my experience that 
absolutely *every* meter goes flaky after about two years and some a lot 
sooner than that. In fact, meter accuracy may be one of those things like 
Plato's Perfect Forms -- it exists in the mind but may not exist in fact in 
that. to some extent, how accurate a meter is depends on how uniform strips 
are, i.e., how much differing batches of strips are one from another and how 
closely coding of strips matches the actual chemistry of strips -- something 
we don't have a lot of control over.

There is a way to test your meter against what your local lab gets for a bg 
reading but even that depends upon the particular batch of strips and might 
be different for a different bunch.

This last applies to both sighted and blind diabetics, of course.

WE do the best we can.

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "eileen scrivani" <etscrivani at verizon.net>
To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 6:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Guidance on talking glucose monitor


> Cheryl:
>
> You are totally correct!  We, each and every one of us, would be big 
> horses hineys if we do not want to see a competitive market for these 
> talking meters for the blind.  If the NFB as an organization wants to put 
> their stamp of approval on only the Prodigy Voice only because they get 
> the organizations name given high publicity and acolaids I have a problem 
> with that -- big time.  A meter should only be given high praise, not only 
> because it talks (essential for the blind) but is a quality product, easy 
> to use, accurate and helps us with our primary concern, controling and 
> managing our diabetes.  The Solo Meter is new, but the Jury is not back on 
> it.  It might prove to be as good or even better as the Prodigy.  It is 
> important that both companies keep making improvements and stiving for a 
> more accurate, accessible talking glucose meter.
>
> The ear phone jack is not a big selling point for me, I could do without 
> it and in fact could count on one hand the number of times I have used a 
> head phone jack while testing.
>
> I am currently using the PV and think it's okay, but see room for 
> improvement.  I am still questioning its accuracy whenever I test with it. 
> I was recently shipped a new meter by the company.  While the numbers I 
> see have changed with the upgraded meter, I still think they are not 
> accurate and the variations I get from test to test are to wide and have 
> me altering insulin dosages.  I have still not heard back from the company 
> on what the problem with the old meter was ... was it me, was it the 
> strips, or was it the meter itself?  I got no feed back and would very 
> much like to know what the problem was.
> I shipped the older meter back to them in December and was told they would 
> run some tests on it to see what the problem might have been.
>
> I am interested in the new Solo meter, but have a small fortune worth of 
> PV test strips that I'm not about to just toss in the trash.  All these 
> strips are expensive either with or without insurance!
>
> Eileen
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "cheryl echevarria" <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
> To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "Tina" <trockwell at advanceddiabeticsolutions.net>
> Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 9:16 AM
> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Guidance on talking glucose monitor
>
>
>> Eileen I totally agree, we shouldn't poo poo at these things companies 
>> are listening and now there is a second one, they want to work with us. 
>> So we need to work with ADS and either let them know Vincent Chaney or 
>> myself and of course Tina and Jordan are on this list, they want this to 
>> work so they can get it out to us. Solo Meter wants this to work. so try 
>> let them know you want to try it maybe you can get it for free and see 
>> how it works.
>>
>> Competition is great.  I like many things about the new solo meter, I 
>> don't use a ear piece, because my ears are to sensitive so I just lower 
>> it to where I can hear it.  But some like the ear piece.  So let them 
>> know.
>>
>> They can redesign it.
>>
>> Cheryl Echevarria
>> Independent Travel Consultant
>> http://Echevarriatravel.com<http://echevarriatravel.com/>
>> 1-866-580-5574
>>
>> http://blog.echevarriatravel.com<http://blog.echevarriatravel.com/>
>> Reservations at echevarriatravel.com<mailto:Reservations at echevarriatravel.com>
>> Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel 
>> CST-1018299-10
>>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>>  From: eileen scrivani<mailto:etscrivani at verizon.net>
>>  To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind<mailto:diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>  Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 9:02 AM
>>  Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Guidance on talking glucose monitor
>>
>>
>>  Since the Prodigy Voice has been the ** ONLY ** fully talking meter on 
>> the
>>  market, what else was there for a totally blind diabetic to use? 
>> Process of
>>  elimination alone, of course, would place it as the best by blind 
>> diabetics
>>  because we had no other choice in the matter!  That is until the release 
>> of
>>  this very new meter just announced!  I think it's a disgrace that we do 
>> not
>>  have available to us the same selection of choices in glucose meters as
>>  sighted diabetics.  We should all be very happy about the new 
>> announcement
>>  and hope there would be more coming onto the market down the road.
>>
>>  Eileen
>>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>>  From: "Albert Sanchez" 
>> <albertsanchez at suddenlink.net<mailto:albertsanchez at suddenlink.net>>
>>  To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" 
>> <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org<mailto:diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>>
>>  Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 2:43 AM
>>  Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Guidance on talking glucose monitor
>>
>>
>>  > Hey! Patty!
>>  > The Prodigy Voice is considered by many to be the most usable 
>> glucometer
>>  > for blind folks, I use mine daily.
>>  > Albert Sanchez
>>  > Al's Piano Tuning & Repair
>>  > 215 John Avenue
>>  > Greenville, NC 27858-4113
>>  > 252-757-3023
>>  > ----- Original Message ----- 
>>  > From: "Patty Droppers" 
>> <patty at thedroppers.com<mailto:patty at thedroppers.com>>
>>  > To: "'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'" 
>> <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org<mailto:diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>>
>>  > Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 8:57 PM
>>  > Subject: [Diabetes-talk] Guidance on talking glucose monitor
>>  >
>>  >
>>  >> This afternoon I received the news that I was "borderline" diabetic. 
>> My
>>  >> primary care physician wants me to sign up for diabetes education 
>> classes
>>  >> at
>>  >> my local hospital in Arlington, VA, and he wants me to regularly 
>> monitor
>>  >> my
>>  >> blood sugar for the next three months when they'll test my blood 
>> again.
>>  >> Is
>>  >> Prodigy really as good as it seems? Or are there other and better 
>> talking
>>  >> glucose monitors available? I used to be better informed than I am
>>  >> currently. I look forward to receiving accurate information and 
>> support
>>  >> from
>>  >> this list. Thanks in advance.
>>  >>
>>  >> _______________________________________________
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>>  >
>>  >
>>  > _______________________________________________
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