STAT April 15, 2021
For the 1.6 million people in America living with type 1 diabetes, a continuous glucose monitor can be a lifesaver.
Since the first CGM was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1999, the diabetes community has advocated for lower prices and better insurance coverage for the quarter-sized devices, which regularly sample a proxy for blood glucose levels and can sound an alarm when they swing too high or too low. The cost-cutting has had an unexpected side effect: Today, glucose monitors are so cheap they’ve spawned a new crop of digital health startups selling the devices to consumers, many of whom don’t have diabetes.
Glucose monitors are only approved in the U.S. for use in people with diabetes...