Blog - When diabetes devices fail (8 December 2020)

Summary

In this article for US magazine Consumer Reports, Rachel Rabkin Peachman looks at the incidence and impact of malfunctions and design flaws in continuous blood glucose monitors, insulin pumps and other diabetes equipment. She highlights the case of Pamela, a 64-year-old with diabetes who died when her insulin pump unintentionally gave her a massive dose of insulin overnight. The numbers of adverse events and deaths reported to the FDA regarding diabetes devices is far greater than for any other type of medical device—between January 2019 and July 2020, almost 400 deaths and 66,000 injuries in the US were linked to commonly used diabetes devices. Reports are spread across the different device manufacturers and demonstrate the complexities of trying to determine the exact cause of each adverse event. The article also includes information on how people with diabetes can protect themselves from device malfunctions and errors.