Coaguchek strips

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EVELYN

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 17, 2002
Messages
2,149
Location
VIRGINIA
Just thought I'd let everyone know that I spoke with Roche this morning and they have NO DATE for release of new/replacement strips for the Coaguchek machine. Originally, they had told me the first quarter of 2007 was their date, which would have been March.......Well, March has come and gone and it's now MAY......NO STRIPS.....and no projected date in the future.

What a way to do business, huh????

Evelyn
 
Evelyn

Does that mean you can't use one of these machines ?

I am about to get one myself.

Best Wishes

George Montgomery
 
George

The machine is fine, and YES, it means you CAN'T use it.....no strips. I would recommend the INRatio over the Coaguchek if you're planning to purchase a new one......jmho. The recall happened last fall and we were told that strips would be remanufactured and available the first quarter of 2007. Roche is supposed to replace all recalled strips when the new strips come out, but to date they have NO date they'll be back. There may be a NEW Coaguchek machine with different strips that might be coming out, but you'd have to check that out.

Evelyn

Evelyn
 
George:

Best for you to question your potential vendor/provider of a CoaguChek about the strips.

Those in the U.K. (and other parts of the universe!) have a different model of the CoaguChek than what's sold to individual patients in the United States. I believe it's the strips for the U.S. machines that are unavailable.

When I had my annual physical last month, I asked my PCP's Dracula if the office had had problems getting the CoaguChek strips for professional use. She said that they had had a little bit of a problem, but it was very quickly resolved.
 
Hi Marsha

You're absolutely right, the US does have a different machine/strip than UK. But actually Roche (the manufacturer of the Coaguchek and the strips) has a hotline to call to check on the availability of same. The individual supplies like QAS or Tapestry or Raytel have limited knowledge. If anyone would like, I'd be happy to give the hotline numbers I have.

Ev
 
Sorry, George, I just looked and saw that you were from UK.....what I said prior does refer to US......Hope you can get them over there for your machine.

Ev
 
Coaguchek S strips--unavailable in US

Coaguchek S strips--unavailable in US

When speaking with Roche last fall when my "S" wore out I think I remember the representative saying the "S" hadn't been approved for home use in the US and that was why the strips were with held. If it were that simple I don't understand why they didn't say so rather than disappoint users as they have.

Initially I thought there had been a problem with all the "S" strips everywhere but that didn't turn out to be so.
 
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I also called Roche last week and got the same result. I let the person khow that I consider Roche's behavior unprofessional. We get a letter on Oct 19, 2006 and zero communication after that. I Told her that they have a registry and they should be contacting us on a regular basis. She said that she would pass it along.
 
You know, Tom, you're ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!! Now that I think about it, it IS unprofessional behavior. As consumers, if a product is recalled we're entitled to either a replacement or a refund.....not a wait and maybe we'll go away. We should have been offered a refund immediately, and while I'm sure they are "still working on them," I'm NOT sure it's with much diligence. I'm not sure who we should contact, maybe the FDA or maybe we should ALL contact Roche and complain about our treatment and their lack of service.

I do think I'm going to write a letter to the FDA.....or whatever agency I can find that is appropriate.....ok Nancy, you would probably know best who to contact.

What do ya'll think? Should we start complaining big time?

Evelyn
 
tommy said:
She said that she would pass it along.
Click to expand...

Which most likely consisted of her running into a friend in the bathroom and saying "Hey, guess what I'm supposed to pass along?" followed by hilarious laughter.

The fact that this is a machine that does a vital blood test, you would think they would have been much more on the ball. Can you start sending them the bills for your lab tests?
 
Unprofessional? Absolutely!

Unprofessional? Absolutely!

Tommy, Karlynn and Evelyn,

You're absolutely right--certainly is unprofessional. There is a lot of money invested in a home monitor. Has anyone contacted the FDA to determine if the Coaguchek S is under consideration for home use?

Tommy, are you dealing with a technician/representative in Quebec?
 
I had my first encounter with the Coaguchek S yesterday. Several years ago, my Primary Physician's lab could not provide me with reliable INR readings in the desired range of 3 - 4, so I had them send the samples to Quest Diagnostics in Nashville. After a couple of samples were lost recently, I discussed my problem with the local lab tech and she said she could now do a "finger prick" INR with her new machine. I had that done yesterday, and she was using a Coaguchek S, drawing the blood with a tube. It worked fine and I got a reading very close to the last result from Quest.

She did not indicate any problem in obtaining strips, etc.
 
"S" Strip Availability

"S" Strip Availability

Hi Old Nick,

"S" Strips are available everywhere it seems just not in the US.

They are available in Canada.

As far as I know the "S" was not approved for home use--just professionally as you have already learned.

I don't know if the strips used by "professionals" are any different than those used by everyone else nor if their monitors are different. Somehow I don't think so and that means the "S" strips are being shipped to the US.

If this is wrong someone will be here and say so.
 
It would seem that the lack of testing strips would be a valid reason for an insurance company to approve the purchase of a new machine. Roche has passed their soft deadline a few times at least.

Unfortunately, you don't know just how the insurance company will react. BC/BS had no problem approving a new machine for me when mine needed refurbishing. The fact that I was already home testing made them say it was basically a done deal. However Gina (Luvmybirman) got turned down for a new machine by BC/BS because she was too stable. Even though she had been home testing for years. Crazy.
 
Evelyn

Thanks for the update on the Coaguchek testers.

I contacted Roche here in the UK and they have test strips available.

I understand they are recommend their latest XS machine.

I'll have a look at the INRatio machine as well, as you suggest.

Would like to get a machine soon - though my INR is not stable, so still having weekly visits to the clinic.

Best Wishes

George
 
"S" vs "XS"

"S" vs "XS"

George M,

When my "S" wore out (broke down) it was replaced at my request with an XS. These are the only 2 monitors I have experience with.

Both monitors were great and for me the XS is much more user friendly, smaller, lighter, strips don't need to be refrigerated. When I went to the UK last summer my "S" went with me. Until I carried it through what seemed miles of corridors at Gatwick Airport I would not have said the "S" was heavy, but heavy it became.

So I give two thumbs up for XS. There are probably other user friendly and small monitors available as well.

Home testing is great and whatever monitor you use you will like.
 
The Coagucheck XS and the Hemosense INRatio are like twin cousins. Both are small, don't need to have strips refrigerated and very easy to test on. The small size is very nice for travel.
 
Has anyone thought of contacting either local news or even someone like CNN or MSNBC? I thought think this is the kind of little person getting , whiats a nice word, abused by a company and it has to do w/ very important medical issues. maybe if this became Public how you are being treated and how unprofessional and uncaring Roche seems to be, they might put a little more effort into fixing the problem. It can't take that long to make a batch of new strips
 
I use the coaguchek xs system, my insurance pays for 100 strips in one year.

the strips are very expensive, 50 are about 190?. Here in germany, and the rest of europe, you can buy the strips in the pharmacy.

How many times a week do you people check your inr? i do it like 2 times a week.
I take i marcoumar a day, sunndays a half, my INR is always about 2.8, very stable.
 
Most of us test weekly, some monthly. I don't think it's necessary to test 2 times a week, since the drug is so slow acting.
 
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