Insulin pumps have most reported problems in the FDA’s database

DESTIN, FLA.» When Polly Varnado’s 9-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, it didn’t take long for the family to hear about insulin pumps.

In September 2012, the girl picked out a purple one — her favorite color.

Over the next seven months, she proceeded to be hospitalized four times in a McComb, Miss., medical center with high blood sugar. But when Varnado asked about all her daughter’s problems, she said, her doctor blamed user error.

“They said it wasn’t the insulin pump, it was my daughter,” said Varnado, who became a registered nurse so that she could better care for the girl.

When it comes to medical devices, none have had more reported problems over the last decade than insulin pumps, a product that’s used by hundreds of thousands of diabetics around the world, many of them children.

Collectively, insulin pumps and their components are responsible for the highest overall number of malfunction, injury and death reports in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s medical device database, according to an Associated Press analysis of reports since 2008.

In terms of injuries, insulin pumps were second only to metal hip replacements, whose problems with metal shavings in the body causing damage to bone and tissue and other issues, have been well-documented and widely reported.

By contrast, problems with insulin pumps largely have flown under the radar.

Medical device companies and many experts say insulin pumps are safe devices that can help diabetics lead more normal lives.

The FDA notes that “diabetes is a dangerous disease, and people with diabetes who rely on insulin are at higher risk.”

Over the last decade, insulin pumps and pump parts made by Medtronic Inc. were subject to 20 manufacturer recalls and about 100 lawsuits alleging pump malfunctions, according to a joint investigation by the AP and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.