Description of Event or Problem · 1
RPTR HAS BEEN A CUSTOMER OF STERLING MEDICAL FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND HAS BEEN ORDERING THE TEST STRIPS TO TEST BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS. RPTR HAS TYPE I DIABETES AND IS ON AN INSULIN PUMP. RPTR HAS HAD DIABETES FOR 33 YEARS. WHEN THEY ORDERED TEST STRIPS FROM STERLING MEDICAL, THEY DID NOT PACK THE STRIPS WITH ANY TYPE OF INSULATION. THIS MEANT THAT IN 1/2005, THE TEST STRIPS ARRIVED AND THEY WERE COLD. RPTR DID A CONTROL SOLUTION TEST, BECAUSE THEY READ IN THE LITERATURE WITH THERASENSE TEST STRIPS REGARDING OPERATING RANGE, AND THE STRIPS WERE VERY FAR OUTSIDE THE NORMAL RANGE ON THE CONTROL SOLUTION TESTS, WHICH MEANT THAT THEY WOULD NOT READ BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS ACCURATELY. RPTR DID CONTROL SOLUTION TESTS ON ALL CONTAINERS, AND THEY WERE OUTSIDE THE NORMAL RANGE. WHEN RPTR CONTACTED STERLING MEDICAL, THEY WERE ASSURED THAT THE NEXT ORDER THE STRIPS WOULD BE INSULATED. RPTR ALSO EXPLAINED THE MEDICAL ISSUES OF TYPE I DIABETES, AND HOW VITAL BLOOD GLUCOSE READINGS ARE TO MAINTAINING CONTROL. THEREFORE, IF TEST STRIPS ARE NOT READING PROPERLY, DUE TO EXPOSURE TO COLD OR HEAT, THIS IS A PROBLEM. RPTR EXPRESSED THIS CONCERN TO ONE OF THE MGR AT STERLING MEDICAL, AND SHE ASSURED RPTR THAT THEIR NEXT ORDER WOULD BE INSULATED. RPTR'S NEXT ORDER WAS THE PREVIOUS DAY AND IT WAS NOT INSULATED. THIS PRACTICE OF INSULATING THE TEST STRIPS WAS ALWAYS DONE IN THE PAST BY STERLING MEDICAL, BUT FOR SOME REASON HAS NOT BEEN DONE THE LAST TWO TIMES THAT RPTR PLACED AN ORDER. RPTR IS INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETIC, WITH VERY FLUCTUATING BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS, AND IT IS VITAL THAT THEIR TEST STRIPS WORK PROPERLY, AND THEREFORE NEED TO BE SHIPPED PROPERLY. WHEN RPTR CALLED STERLING MEDICAL, THEY DON'T FEEL THAT THE PERSON RESPONDING TO THE CALL UNDERSTOOD THE IMPORTANCE AND SERIOUSNESS OF THIS MATTER. FOR THE RECORD, RPTR WOULD LIKE TO NOTE THAT WITHOUT INSULIN, RPTR WILL DIE WITHIN 48 HRS, AS THEY HAVE TYPE I DIABETES. THEREFORE HAVING TEST STRIPS THAT WORK PROPERLY, IS A VITAL PART OF DETERMINING THE APPROPRIATE DOSAGE OF INSULIN, A LIFE-PRESERVING MEDICATION. TODAY RPTR SPOKE WITH REP AT STERLING MEDICAL AND SHE SAID THAT THEY ARE NOT REQUIRED TO PROTECT TEST STRIPS FROM TEMPERATURE EXTREMES, AND THAT THE STRIPS ARE SHIPPED IN THE SAME MANNER IN WHICH THEY ARE RECEIVED BY STERLING MEDICAL. ADDITIONALLY, SHE STATED THAT THE INSULATION THAT WAS DONE PRIOR, WAS NOT DONE FOR THE PURPOSE OF INSULATING THE STRIPS. RPTR BELIEVES THAT SHE WAS HONESTLY TRYING TO HELP, AS SHE WAS GATHERING INFO FROM ANOTHER SOURCE. HOWEVER, RPTR HAS A SERIOUS MEDICAL CONDITION, AND CANNOT RISK TEST STRIPS NOT READING BLOOD GLUCOSE PROPERLY, DUE TO TEMPERATURE EXPOSURE DURING THE SHIPMENT PROCESS. RPTR THEREFORE REQUESTED THAT THEIR TEST STRIPS ARE PROPERLY PROTECTED DURING THE SHIPMENT PROCESS.