A simple touch of the skin, and you will get your blood sugar level: this Monday, March 31, the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) and the DGCCRF (General Directorate for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control) are warning, in a joint press release, about rings, watches and other connected objects that promise to measure patients' blood sugar levels without pricking them.
"No "non-invasive" blood sugar measuring device, that is, one that would measure your blood sugar level using simple contact with the skin, has not been approved by the health authorities nor validated by the scientific community,” insist the two French authorities.
A considerable risk for patients
These devices, offered on online platforms or on social networks, sometimes promise to “change the lives of diabetics,” who are forced to monitor their blood sugar levels daily. Two types of devices exist today: those that take a drop of blood, which is then analyzed by a blood glucose meter, and those that work via a flexible filament inserted under the patient's skin (the "sensors").
Other products that claim to measure blood glucose outside of these two types of devices - fingertip measuring devices, watches, rings, etc. - present a considerable risk to patients, the authorities warn. They can indeed mislead diabetics by not detecting decreases and increases in blood sugar levels. Without being able to detect hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia at time, or by recommending inappropriate insulin doses, these devices can "lead to hospitalizations (...) or even death", write the two French health and consumer watchdogs.
Fraudulent use of official logos
These devices can also sometimes be presented with the logos of French authorities such as the ANSM, the French Federation of Diabetics (FFD), the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), or the French Society Francophone Diabetes (SFD). These are fraudulent uses "intended to deceive the public, suggesting a reassuring official endorsement to encourage purchase," the two authorities regret. The DGCCRF explains that it has worked to remove illegal advertisements for these devices from online platforms.
On March 5, the FFD had already alerted on its website about the sale on Facebook of "smartwatches, presented as allowing glucose level measurement without pricking". However, a "sponsored post, from an account we do not know, promoting a blood glucose measurement device presented as "non-invasive" on which our logo appeared, alongside of those of the ANSM and Inserm," the association regretted. It was "a scam and identity theft," it warned. The organization advised patients to report any promotion of this type of device to the platform in question and especially to the government platform Signal Conso, a recommendation echoed by the two French authorities on Monday.
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