BarbaraHudson's Journal: Fraud and marketing wearable medical devices

A company called DexCon is trying to market a wearable glucose sensor, which is all nice and good, except I smell a (few) rats.

"Diabetics really donâ(TM)t want others to know they have diabetes," said Valdes, adding that individuals with the condition check their blood-sugar levels approximately 50 times a day.

First, anyone with insulin-dependent diabetes is told to advise friends, teachers, and co-workers so that in the event of a hypoglycemic event people don't do the wrong thing, don't panic, etc. And they won't wonder why you're munching something high in sugar during a class, meeting, or other activities.

Second, 50 times a day? Get real. Drop the zero and you're more likely in the ballpark for those who test often, though if they're stable, many people do a morning check, and if all's good, just maintain their original injection schedule to the next day. Then every few weeks or when the morning test shows something out of whack, or they're sick, test at every meal and bedtime for a week to make sure everything is stable. 50 times a day would cost about $18,000, just for the test strips. It would also mean testing 3x an hour 16 hours a day. This is just hype to make the device, which costs more than using test strips, look less like a huge increase in both initial and ongoing costs.

Third, what's really funny is that if you search around on the net, you still have to do at least two old-style prick-the-finger tests a day to give the device a baseline to work from. And the sensor isn't in the watch - you have to inject it into your body and keep it there. The sensor is expensive and wears out. As do the batteries in the transmitter to the watch.

So, less accuracy, higher cost, more inconvenience, and a healthy dose of misinformation and a few lies? Not even if you gave me one with 6 months free.

And hey, it's fugly (read the comments from a user who notes you still have to do the finger stick 2x a day anyway). Have fun protecting the adhesive tape while taking a bath, shower, or swim.

50x/day?

[Zontar The Mindless]

Apparently someone is hoping no-one outside their marketing department can do simple maths.

The "Diabetics really don't want others to know they have diabetes" bit is also complete horseshit, as anyone who is or knows a diabetic can already tell.

Shame-based marketing tends to rub me the wrong way in any event. Shame-based marketing of a product intended for a condition such as diabetes is just... slimy.

"Your imperfection is SHAMEFUL and must be HIDDEN FROM OTHERS"---nononono, you lot are the ones who ought to be bloody ashamed of yourselves.

Thanks very much for the heads-up, B. I'll be sure and tell my wife about this so she doesn't encounter it and maybe get fooled into thinking it's something that she'd want to get for her mother.

Re:

[BarbaraHudson]

You've pretty much nailed my feelings about it on the head. My mother kept hers hidden from me, which meant among other things, no early screening.