Selling Expired Diabetic Test Strips

[diabeticmedical]

I can not believe how many sellers are listing and selling "expired" Diabetic Test Strips with some expiring as far back as 2014, along with unsealed boxes and open containers.  I have been working with people that are living with diabetes for over 12 years and it is so dangerous, especially people that are administering insulin and need complete accuracy with their test results.  I can not understand the complete disregard from other sellers for their fellow human being in order to make a buck and the lack of monitoring from ebay.  I understand that there are thousands of listings being entered everyday but ebay can at least create a mandatory field that a seller has to fill in with the expiration dates, and if the dates have expired then the listing can not be created.  I know sellers will still find a way around this but at least it will give the diabetic community some more added protection.  In a listing where it shows  "Condition"  (New:  A brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item), ebay should add "unexpired" as well which would also cover any other health, beauty or food products.  

[luckythewinner]

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@diabeticmedical wrote:

Other than baby formula, there are no expiration dates for food. The dates on food are voluntary "Best if used by" dates and they do not indicate whether food is safe to be consumed. 

Luckywinner , your statement above is absolutely  correct according to the FDA Consumer Report.

However this is not ebay policy:  (which does not seem to matter anyway as they do not enforce it)

Policy overview

Before listing food and healthcare items, be sure to familiarize yourself with federal and state laws and regulations. These items must:

• Have a clearly marked expiration date

• Be delivered to the buyer before they expire

  http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/food.html

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I was not commenting on eBay policy, which should have been clear from my original post (before you removed the context surrounding my statement.) 

[maxine*j]

You know, I cannot find the eBay policy that prohibits the sale of expired diabetic test strips.  Reading carefully, I cannot see that they fit it in the category of medical devices nor of prescription / otc drugs, both of which do have restrictions.

I must be missing something, but can you link me to the eBay policy that would ban the sale of these expired strips.

I'm not advocating their sale, mind you, but I'm not sure it is disallowed.

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[maxine*j]

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@diabeticmedical wrote:

So, even though the accuracy of the strips declines with age, maybe some people feel they're still better off using them than not testing at all.  As a professional in the field, you can tell me:  Are they right or wrong in thinking that?

I agree with this statement, I would rather see my clients test and use slightly expired strips (because they are more than likely still good) then not to test at all.  Anyone dealing with insulin it is just not worth the risk especially if they can get them with a month or two still remaining for a slightly higher cost.  However with having the option of being able to purchase expired strips many are willing to compromise and take the risk in order to save a few dollars.

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Thanks for the reply.  I will say only that it is a shame that anyone uses expired (or, at least, long-expired) test strips but I think in many cases the extra few dollars are simpy not there.  It's not so much willingness to take the risk as necessity to take it.

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[gjs_16]

It's absolutely necessity, don't dare think we all have adequate coverage and it's not even that, some of us have GREAT insurance coverage but we're SCARED to use it because we never know which "item" the insurance ends up NOT covering and we end up with thousands in bills to pay!

The whole thing is a scam, the entire US healthcare system, from top to bottom and end to end.

No, selling expired diabetic test strips doesn't feel right, it also doesn't seem right that "everyone and their brother" at one time seemed to be posting roadside handwritten signs talking about "We buy strips" (much like the "we buy homes" nonsense) because I'm sure there's arbitrage involved and wherever that takes place someone is taking advantage of a situation as well...

However, in that sense the corporations have nobody else to blame but themselves, they're the ones who created the mess and made this whole profitable profligation possible in the first place... And that doesn't make it right but it is the reason MANY don't feel the slightest pang of guilt when taking advantage of such a thing.

Welcome to America, the land of opportunity.
But most of all, for those who may have missed it, that means welcome to capitalism.

It is a shame, that it is.

[nocoolnamejane]

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@gjs_16 wrote:

It's absolutely necessity, don't dare think we all have adequate coverage and it's not even that, some of us have GREAT insurance coverage but we're SCARED to use it because we never know which "item" the insurance ends up NOT covering and we end up with thousands in bills to pay!

The whole thing is a scam, the entire US healthcare system, from top to bottom and end to end.

No, selling expired diabetic test strips doesn't feel right, it also doesn't seem right that "everyone and their brother" at one time seemed to be posting roadside handwritten signs talking about "We buy strips" (much like the "we buy homes" nonsense) because I'm sure there's arbitrage involved and wherever that takes place someone is taking advantage of a situation as well...

However, in that sense the corporations have nobody else to blame but themselves, they're the ones who created the mess and made this whole profitable profligation possible in the first place... And that doesn't make it right but it is the reason MANY don't feel the slightest pang of guilt when taking advantage of such a thing.

Welcome to America, the land of opportunity.
But most of all, for those who may have missed it, that means welcome to capitalism.

It is a shame, that it is.

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This. All of this. As a Canadian with universal healthcare (and yes it has its downsides, but nowhere near as bad), the entire US healthcare system baffles me. For a country that tout itself as the best country in the word and the land of equal opportunity, you'd think they'd give their people the equal opportunity to stay alive...

With that said, I am diabetic, and will often find old unused strips in travel cases or what I thought were empty containers and tested them for S&G and even after 2-3 years, they were pretty accurate.

Like someone said upthread, between expired and none at all, the former is still preferable.

[maxine*j]

I lived and worked in Canada for 15 years.  Best medical care I've ever had.  Clean hospitals.  Clean blood supply.  Incredibly well-trained doctors and nurses.  Reasonable monthly premiums.  Reasonable small co-pays.  (I was in B.C., one of the few provinces that still had premiums and other charges.)

A few years after I left Canada, I needed urgent surgery and I flew up there as a private pay patient, even though I had to borrow money to do it, because I knew I'd get great, safe care for a tricky issue.  And I did.

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[luckythewinner]

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@maxine*j wrote:

You know, I cannot find the eBay policy that prohibits the sale of expired diabetic test strips.  Reading carefully, I cannot see that they fit it in the category of medical devices nor of prescription / otc drugs, both of which do have restrictions.

I must be missing something, but can you link me to the eBay policy that would ban the sale of these expired strips.

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"Needles, with or without a disposable syringe, and items that have passed their expiration date are also prohibited."

"The item description should clearly state the product expiration date. Items must reach the buyer before the expiration date"

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/medicine-medical-devices-healthcare-p...

[simba6]

That is nothing. I was once at a flea-market and a seller had boxes of bottles of prescription medicine for sale.

[varebelrose]

Hmm, the closest metropolitan area to me has for years been plastered with crudely written signs proclaiming "I BUY DIABETES TEST STRIPS CASH PAID" and a phone number. I always wondered what the motive was, I guess now I know. Buy them from estates, expired or not, and resell here.

[varebelrose]

"If a product has expired it should not be listed for sale"

I respectfully disagree.

Not everything that has an expiration date truly needs  one, some products have them to force consumers to replenish on a regular basis. Child car seats and sealed printer ink cartridges come to mind.

Some food or other products are highly collectible, and it should be between the seller and the buyer. Nobody is going to buy a 10 year old candy bar to eat, but I guarantee that some folks collect them.

Some items people want expired because the age can change the characteristics. I have sold many  roll so of expired 35 MM film; many photographers like to experiment with it because it can create wild effects.

[dogchow747]

Prescriptive medical devices ( Nebulizers, CPAP machines etc.) are prohibited.

Seems like a easy call for any expired  "Over-the-counter (OTC) medical devices"

and accessories.

Expiration date could be posted, but I am sure people would cheat the system.

After someone dies... maybe.

[donsdetour]

My question is who is purchasing such things....

[dogchow747]

They should be considered a "disposable" that is associated with OTC medical devices.

If someone uses a oxygen concentrator, all of the tubing and nasal cannulas are considered disposables.

On a prescriptive item like that, you have to purchase that stuff from a medical dealer, you can not get it at the store. Diabetic strips are available at a pharmacy, but expired ones..... Pretty bad.

I guess they are not too cheap, but if cheap expired ones are being bought by poorer or elderly folks to save money, that is bad that ebay is facilitating that.

I get that a month over the expiration date, probably not anything to worry about.

Years...

I assume there is a chemical reaction of some sort that occurs. many chemicals degrade over time.

Could be a huge problem for accuracy.

[maxine*j]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@maxine*j wrote:

You know, I cannot find the eBay policy that prohibits the sale of expired diabetic test strips.  Reading carefully, I cannot see that they fit it in the category of medical devices nor of prescription / otc drugs, both of which do have restrictions.

I must be missing something, but can you link me to the eBay policy that would ban the sale of these expired strips.

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"Needles, with or without a disposable syringe, and items that have passed their expiration date are also prohibited."

"The item description should clearly state the product expiration date. Items must reach the buyer before the expiration date"

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/medicine-medical-devices-healthcare-p...

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Yes, I know.  I found all that.  What I said was that in a carefuyl reading of those, these test strips did not seem to fit the definitions, examples, et cetera,  They are not medical devices, so far as I can see.  Nor are they medications, prescribed or OTC.  Whatever they are, no prescription is required for them.   

I'm not trying to ber argumentative, I'm saying that the things are perhaps not banned on eBay, or not clearly so. 

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[gracieallen01]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

It seems like the OP's suggestion was intended to be for medical items only.

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Personally, I think most any thing applied to the skin (cosmetics, etc), ingested (food stuffs and medications), medical testing items (test strips of any type), etc., should have an expiration date and be monitored for legitimate sale, and use, within the specified time.

There seem to be more than enough opportunists to take advantage of the poor, elderly, illiterate or poorly educated and otherwise disadvantaged that both large and small companies and corporations should take some responsibility in the active oversight of helping to prevent misuse and injury by greed.