Devices & Diagnostics

Supply problems force medical device maker to withdraw glucose monitor

A St. Paul, Minnesota medical device maker  announced Wednesday that it is withdrawing a blood glucose monitoring system from the market because of a lack of supply of component parts. Smiths Medical ASD Inc. said that it will no longer sell the CoZmonitor Continuous Glucose Monitoring System due to the unavailability of test strips that […]

A St. Paul, Minnesota medical device maker  announced Wednesday that it is withdrawing a blood glucose monitoring system from the market because of a lack of supply of component parts.

Smiths Medical ASD Inc. said that it will no longer sell the CoZmonitor Continuous Glucose Monitoring System due to the unavailability of test strips that are compatible with the monitor. In a letter, the company advised patients to immediately stop using CoZmonitor if they don’t have any FreeStyle Blood Glucose test strips left. The company urged people to look at alternatives to the CoZmonitor by calling a customer service representative. The device also needs to be disposed off appropriately.

A spokesman for the St. Paul company said that while the monitor was made by Smiths Medical, the test strips were not and so when the test strips maker decided to discontinue the product, it affected Smiths Medical

The letter noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been notified about the market withdrawal of the product.

Smiths Medical is part of the U.K. multinational Smiths Group, which employs 22,000 people in more than 50 countries.

[Photo Credit: sheelamohan]

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