VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Food and Drug Administration announced the recall of Medtronic’s MiniMed 600 Series Insulin Pumps as a “Class I” recall.
People who have Type 1 diabetes can use the MiniMed insulin pump to deliver insulin to manage their diabetes; however, Medtronic had to recall the specified insulin pumps due to a missing or broken retainer ring. According to the FDA, the ring is supposed to help lock the insulin cartridge into place. However, if the cartridge is not locked into place, under- or over-delivery of insulin could take place which could lead to hypoglycemia or hypoglycemia.
Sentara Diabetes Prevention Coordinator Susan De Abate said the recall is scary.
"It's very serious, any time there's an issue with a device. They go through a very stringent quality control check when it's released because it is life-threatening for patients," De Abate said. "For a patient who is depending on insulin because they're not dosing it any other way except through their pump, it can be life-threatening. And for a person with type one diabetes, you don't have as much lag time to identify there's a problem.”
De Abate said she’s glad one of her patients luckily caught the issue on his pump.
"He said something's up, and he came in for a visit and we did some troubleshooting. We contacted Medtronic right away and was able to get him a new pump,” said De Abate.
If you or anyone you know used the recalled pumps, contact your healthcare provider immediately.
"Reach out to your diabetes educator and a physician and your endocrinologist and then we can get in touch with Medtronic directly,” said De Abate.
Recalled Pumps:
- MiniMed 600 Series Insulin Pumps
- Model 630G (MMT-1715) - all lots before October 2019
- Model 670G (MMT-1780) - all lots before August 2019
- Distribution Dates:
- Model 630G - September 2016 to October 2019
- Model 670G - June 2017 to August 2019
- Devices Recalled in the U.S.: 322,005
- Date Initiated by Firm: November 21, 2019