Too many Pod failures! Is this common?

My daughter has experienced 6-7 failures in past three months. Is this normal and acceptable?

2 failures were after two days of use. These resulted in morning highs that lasted all day till the pod change in the eve.

1 case where pod was delivering more insulin than it should resulting in lows at every measurement. The lows went away after next pod change. Hence I suspect the pod was over-delivering.

2 cases of unexplained Pod error and the pod deactivated itself

2 pods that did not beep after insulin fill.

The first few months with the Pod were great but now every pod change is accompanied by anxiety and concern about its working or not. Given all the issues people have been having with pods, how could Insulet be allowed to carry on like this?

Should these type of incidents be reported to some agency (FDA?) to push Insulet for better manufacuring controls?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Annie on February 10, 2012 at 7:03pm

Oh and I've had several post-pod change highs that I believe were due to the pod and not the meal (had eaten a relatively "safe" meal that i'd eaten before). My new strategy is to bolus for a meal first before the pod change early in the day (breakfast or lunch), and then give 0.5-1 unit extra with the new pod. I watch carefully to make sure I don't go low, but this way I can get the insulin flowing.

Permalink Reply by Steve D on February 11, 2012 at 7:53am

I used to do the same thing, Bolus immediately after a change of pod. I did it this way for about 2 years until I grew tired of having to do an immediate bolus, so I created a new basil i named "change day" and I swith to this basil every change day. It turns out (after much trial and error) this basil is 2X (twoice) my normal basil (I am sure it is different for everyone). It just gives me more peadche of mind, Knowing i am treating the problem proactively.

Permalink Reply by Steve D on February 16, 2012 at 3:01pm

Here's a new one for ya....I have had MORE than my share of Pod issues/failures....and I finally went to the Anamas "Ping" for a bit (30 day trial), unfortunately I found the tubing to be more than I could handle. Shortly after that, I just decided the Pod QC was just inadequate and decided to go back to MDI. I called INsulet to stop the auto ship of new pods (they had already shipped me well over a years worth of pods and I just figuted I would use up the stuff before going back to MDI) yet today, I received ANOTHER CASE (again, unordered so legally i can keep it, and will) I called Insulet again (5th time in the past two weeks) to tell them that the case is now mine free of charge as I had altready tried to remove myself from the auto ship program....they were in fact confused although the rep could see that i had requested to stop the autoship....just an example of how they do business. One would think that a company providing supplies to diabetics would try to make life a little easier for us.....no go with Insulet! ALL I CAN SAY IS, STAY ON TOP OF THIS COMPANY IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO ANY BUSINESS WITH THEM!!!

Permalink Reply by roadsterchic on February 21, 2012 at 9:19am

Hi...
I recently had one box of pods that 7 out of 10 had issues. 4 did not beep when insulin was injected into it and 3 had errors after about 2 hours of wearing and had to be deactivated. I placed a call to Insulet and the rep there told me that as soon as I have an issue with the pod, to save the pod, call Insulet and let them know what occurred. There is a lot number on the back of the pod that they need to log so that they can research if there is an issue with the production lot. As to the 3 pods that had to be deactivated, she stated that they do not warranty those as those are site issue and she went through a list of questions about how it is installed, was the insulin at room temp when it was placed in the pump etc. At the end of the call, she agreed to replace all 7 pods and sure enough a day and a half after the call, a box showed up at my door.