Hello Everyone! Has anyone had any serious issues (not occlusions, simply things that can be fixed with ease, etc.) that caused harm to yourself or another patient that you know?
Additionally, I am trying to find anything on websites such as NIH, NCBI, etc. that mention deaths or associated serious adverse effects from a Tandem pump.
I only found 1 thing so far and the report mentioned nothing serious occurred from the malfunction.
My Bio:
I have UHC. Medtronic 670g came to my door yesterday. I googled and researched Medtronic pump death, Medtronic pump injuries, and BOY do I see A LOT (Honestly anything over 0 is too much for me)… (talked about a woman in Mississipi who died due to her Medtronic pump injecting a WEEK’S WORTH OF INSULIN and killed her).
Anyways, I am about to send it back and launch into battle with UHC to get me a Tandem. I just want to make sure the pump is worth all the hassle (currently on Tresiba. 1/2 in love, 1/2 in love with the pump).
Bonus: I have been using an Animas Vibe for over 5 years. In the total of 13 years pumping, I have sent back/needed repair of about 4 Animas pumps. I haven’t really looked to see if there have been SERIOUS reports of Animas pumps… have you?
We have used the Tandem pump for about 3 years and my son is still alive, but be aware that the n=1.
If you want to see everything unfiltered go to the Maude database and search away. You will see lots of stuff (not many deaths) but the companies have to report every problem big or little. Honestly, if you are worried about safety, then stick to shots, every pump carries some level of risk, but realistically, the risk of death from an insulin pump is really low.
I think you have to assume that all pumps have some risk of catastrophic malfunction. We were on an Animas Ping and had a scary malfunction early on in our son’s use of it. We never figured out what exactly happened but it seemed to be related to the rewind. Anyways, I would take these device error reports seriously, but also recognize that even pumps with a seemingly great safety profile will also likely have malfunctions. Its’ just that fewer people use T-slims and they haven’t been on the market for a few decades, so you have to weigh the malfunction complaints against the total number of hours these devices have been used.
I think a bigger concern with the 670G than the possibility of it causing a fatality is the daily struggles people have with it. Lots of people see big rises in blood sugar as a result of Auto Mode or even the Manual Mode suspends. I certainly saw ridiculous things on it. I’ve been wearing the t:slim since January and have just finished out observing what Basal-IQ does when it’s left alone 100%, and I can tell you hands down this feels like a safe pump. I had to watch the 670 like a hawk.
