Any fallout from switching diabetics patients to new glucose-testing equipment "hasn't really hit yet", several weeks after the phasing-in period started, Diabetes Otago office manager Noeline Wedlock says.
Last month, Pharmac began a switch to new diabetes management tools, to save $10 million a year.
From March 1, the old meters and testing strips will not be subsidised.
Mrs Wedlock believed Pharmac's decision to compromise in a few areas, such as a dispensation for diabetics who had purchased expensive equipment that was incompatible with the new products, had taken some of the heat out of the issue.
The switch moves New Zealand to a single supplier, rather than two.
Critics suggested the change was potentially dangerous, particularly for the elderly, the young, and some ethnic groups.
