The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has urged pharmacists to ensure patients use Accu-Chek blood glucose monitors correctly, following continued reports of false high readings.

All healthcare professionals should make sure patients using either the Accu-Chek mobile meter or Accu-Chek mobile test cassette understand what to do if they get a reading outside of their normal range, the medicines watchdog said on Tuesday (August 18).

The MHRA first issued an alert for the devices in 2014, but said it continues to receive reports of false high readings from patients.

Patients who receive these may take insulin when they do not need to, it warned.

Pharmacists and other health professionals should be familiar with the device’s “strip-free” technology and be able to show patients how to use it correctly, it said. 

The testing procedure for the device is different to standard blood glucose monitors, the MHRA said. Patients must ensure their hands are clean and dry before testing, it explained, and apply their drop of blood to the testing area “immediately” and in a “steady motion” without pressing on the device.

The watchdog is working with the manufacturer to "further reduce the potential for false high readings", it said. In the meantime, pharmacists should advise patients to follow Accu-Chek's testing procedure, it added.

How do you educate patients about monitoring their blood glucose?

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