After evidence of a possible life-threatening defect came to light, Medtronic, the medical device giant issued an immediate recall for its MiniMed Insulin Pumps.<\/p>\n
The recall covers over 300,000 devices which were sold in the United States beginning in June 2017.<\/p>\n
Medtronic touted these pumps as safe to use for people as young as seven years old.<\/p>\n
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), these pumps have defective retainer rings<\/a><\/u>. If the retainer ring does not work properly, the pump could deliver too much insulin or not enough insulin, even if the patient thought the dose amount was correct.<\/p>\n This defect has already seriously injured thousands of people.<\/p>\n Prior to the recall, tens of thousands of people had complained about the pump defect.<\/p>\n However, Medtronic largely ignored these complaints until an outside force prompted it to take action.<\/p>\n Since the FDA depends heavily on user fees from the companies it regulates, this body only issues recalls as a last resort.<\/p>\n So, it\u2019s usually up to New York personal injury attorneys<\/a><\/u> to provide the needed outside changing force.<\/p>\n Insulin is one of the body\u2019s most powerful and delicate hormones. It is essential to things like metabolism and glucose absorption. A little too much can be deadly, and little less than normal can also be deadly.<\/p>\n An insulin overdose could cause hypoglycemia. The risk of an overdose is very high. Therefore, seemingly insignificant safety features, like an unlocked retainer ring, are critical to health.<\/p>\n Excess insulin causes cells to absorb more glucose and causes the liver to produce less insulin.<\/p>\n As a result, blood sugar levels become dangerously low. Initial hypoglycemia symptoms include confusion, irritability, rapid heartbeat, and hunger.<\/p>\n If these people immediately consume a high-glucose food or beverage, like candy or fruit juice, these symptoms usually dissipate.<\/p>\n In extreme situations, hypoglycemia<\/a><\/u> leads to insulin shock or diabetes shock. This condition is often fatal.<\/p>\n On the other end of the spectrum, hyperglycemia<\/a><\/u> is an insulin deficiency. If the body has insufficient insulin, glucose levels become too high and overload the kidney.<\/p>\n This condition, called ketoacidosis, is life-threatening.<\/p>\n Hyperglycemia has chronic health consequences as well.<\/p>\n Insulin deficiency alters body chemistry, leading to conditions like retinopathy, neuropathy, diabetic nephropathy, and atherosclerosis.<\/p>\n In the rush to sell as many medical devices as possible, many companies take shortcuts during the manufacturing process.<\/p>\n There is nothing wrong with wanting to sell as much product as possible. But if that urge puts people at risk, that can become a serious problem.<\/p>\n A non-working component is one of the most common manufacturing defects.<\/p>\n For example, an assembly line machine might drill a hole slightly off-center.<\/p>\n As a result, the screw does not fit exactly right. After a few uses, the screwed component breaks entirely.<\/p>\n Quality control workers should catch these problems before these products reach consumers. But too many times, these inspectors either rubber-stamp products or they do not examine them closely.<\/p>\n Cheap material use is another manufacturing defect. Takata airbags are a good example. Until the late 1990s, the company used tetrazole as an airbag inflator.<\/p>\n Tetrazole was a stable chemical that caused airbags to inflate rapidly but not explode. Tetrazole was also rather expensive.<\/p>\n So, by around 2001, the company had fully switched to ammonium nitrate, a similar but much less expensive chemical. Ammonium nitrate is also highly unstable.<\/p>\nInsulin Dosage Injuries<\/h2>\n
Manufacturing Defects<\/h2>\n
Liability Issues<\/h2>\n