I do think that pumps require quite a bit of training, more than MDI, which is simpler. They can create dangers, although I feel that the danger of forgetting that you already injected you basal insulin for the day for MDI is as significant as the dangers that accompany a pump (particularly, but not only, for older patients).
That said, I was disappointed by the quality of this article and of its analysis:
Insulin pumps linked to more reports of injury and death than any other medical device
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What jumped out at me first is that analysis they pursued did not calculate any ratio, such as deaths per number of user etc. That, in itself, seems to me a disqualifying factor for the soundness of the article.
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Few of the devices listed give much latitude to their users, if any: grafts, pacemakers, heart valves, of heart pumps.
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Some of the devices listed are typically only used by professionals: defibrillators
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None of them involve injecting a deadly poison, which, unfortunately, has to be done daily by all PWDs in one form or another.
her family now says it’s possible using a pump was never a good idea for her. They say she was a “brittle” diabetic, which means her blood sugar levels were unstable and sometimes reached extreme highs and lows. […] “She was … not even a candidate for the pump. I don’t know if anybody had mentioned that to her.”
That is really questionable, if not outright false.
- “Brittle” diabetes is not a recognized diagnosis any more, and its existence is in doubt:
http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2014/mar/the-brittle-diabetes-debate.html
- If there is one such thing as “brittle” diabetes, most teens have it. We, for instance, would deal with brittle diabetes: we hardly have a day without at least one “unexplained” (i.e. hormonal, of course) peak to 200 or much worse, requiring large amounts of insulin, and typically followed by bad lows. But, on the contrary, this is exactly why we need a pump—MDI is not giving us enough control. And, sure enough:
The first tool listed by Healthline to treat “brittle” diabetes is… an insulin pump.
- The family is suing Medtronic. So their claims may well be biased towards success in their court case.
The pump uses only rapid-acting insulin, which means the user can have worry-free meals and snacks at the touch of a button.
That sounds great! We’d love one of those! Oh wait, we have one already… The author is not well educated on diabetes in general, and on insulin in particular.
In the end, I find the article sensational and unconvincing. I really like the Canadian press, but CBC did a bad job, and I don’t think the Globe and Mail would have published it.