Amira Medical's new AtLast Blood Glucose Monitoring System promises a less painful self-test. A disposable test strip sucks up blood, then displays the glucose level. Maker Cygnus Inc. plans to seek FDA approval in June.
Doctors hope the devices live up to the claims.
Of the 5 million diabetics who should self-test, many don't because of the pain. Thousands more may have been ripped off. Now the FTC is fighting back, suing several companies, including Net Options, J. K. Publications, MJD Service, Netfill, N-Bill, Webtel, and Online Billing, for alleged fraud and seeking redress for victims. The FTC does not think the credit card numbers were obtained over the Internet or from carelessly chucked receipts. An outside expert theorizes that a computer program was used to randomly generate credit card numbers.