This internal Beckman Instruments memo was written just as the first five research prototypes for the new Glucose Analyzer were being sent to external laboratories for evaluation. Dr. Sternberg questions the Beckman Instruments legal department about possible precautions and concerns regarding the patients whose blood is analyzed by the instrument.

The Glucose Analyzer was developed by James Sternberg in 1969 and was one of several very successful medical testing and analysis instruments that Beckman Instruments produced in the 1970s. Its size, speed, and price enabled doctors to get fast, in-house results, instead of sending patients’ blood samples to a lab and awaiting a report.