Goodbye, Minimed.
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As you guys know, I’ve decided to change insulin pumps next year. I’m still trying to decide which one – I received a demo OmniPod last week, but I was too sick to care.
But, I was recently asked why I wanted to jump ship from Medtronic. I responded with a laundry list of features and benefits of the other guys, but what it really boils down to is trust. I’m just not as comfortable with Minimed as I once was. There are two big reasons why:
One day last July, I found a UPS package outside when I got home. Since I LOVE presents, I got excited. But, when I tore into the box, all I found was a box of infusion sets and a letter telling me to discontinue all infusion sets from “Lot 8.”
As a diabetic, I receive recall notices all the time. Sometimes it’s for test strips, sometimes it’s for meters. Never before had I actually had in my possession one of the recalled lot numbers. Not once. So, I meandered on over (I was feeling swanky) to my stash of D supplies. Sure enough, all of my infusion sets were the dreaded Lot 8. I couldn’t believe it. I’d spent years stockpiling (more on that another time) these infusion sets, only to have to send them back to Medtronic!
Like a good little customer, I boxed them all up and sent them back. They promised they’d send a replacement box for each one I sent back, so I felt a little better. For a while.
Then, I started thinking about my crazy BG numbers over the past few months. I know, I know, you’re going to say, “Shannon, your numbers are always crazy!” But, this was different – it was CRAZY crazy. Like, I need to change by basals kind of crazy. It was so frustrating because I couldn’t explain why my numbers were so unpredictable. But, I assumed it was my fault (don’t we always). Lo and behold, it was Minimed’s fault. (Note, since using the new infusion sets, I’ve had better stability – well, at least “normal” crazy.) I stumbled across a discussion on Tu Diabetes about The Recall, and I was happy to read that I wasn’t alone.
The fact that Medtronic issued a recall isn’t what killed my trust. It was how they did it. I knew nothing about the problematic infusion sets until I received a brand new box to replace the defective ones. Where was my “heads-up” that there could be a problem? How long did it take from their discovery of the issue, to the release of replacement infusion sets? Days? Weeks? Months? Seriously. Why didn’t they send a notice saying, “hey, we know that there’s a problem, so you might want to switch to MDIs until we figure it out.” Something, anything would have been better than silence.
My second reason is a little less directly-relevant to me, but it bothers me none-the-less.
I recently learned of the death of Steven Krueger, although he passed away over three years ago. At first, I didn’t believe what I read regarding his death. It seemed impossible. However, further discussion at Tu Diabetes (yes, I spend a lot of time there and you should, too!) revealed that many others experienced the same problem that caused Steven’s untimely (and preventable) death.
In a nutshell, while he slept, Steven’s pump went into Prime mode. His model pump (MMT-511) emptied the ENTIRE RESERVIOR of insulin into his body. Steven never woke up.
While the situation is tragic, and I place the blame completely at Medtronic’s door, I also don’t like the fact that there’s been a cover-up. Yep, according to the lovely Anna, “The pump left the coroners office in B.C., Canada – intact (pictures were taken prior to being sent off) – but a week later – Medtronic sent back the pump stating that the case was cracked – therefore they could not perform any tests!”
WTF, Medtronic? I don’t like that kind of sneaky crap. It makes me feel dirty and in need of a shower.
So, those are my reasons. If I could, I’d dump Minimed today.
Themocracy