Safety alert - Medtronic MiniMed™ 600/700 series insulin pump systems

Battery alerts and alarms

The manufacturer Medtronic has received reports of adverse effects (hyperglycaemia, diabetic acidosis) occurring during the use by diabetics of certain models of the MiniMed™ 600 series & 700 series insulin pump.

In order to remind patients how to use their MiniMed insulin pump, Medtronic is issuing a safety alert to patients, healthcare professionals and suppliers in order to:

• Highlight the importance of paying attention to the battery alerts and alarms displayed on the pump,
• Remind patients to always carry spare batteries as advised in the user guide,
• Provide information on situations that could shorten the pump's battery life and result in the pump stopping insulin delivery significantly sooner than expected.

In some cases, if the pump has been dropped, bumped or experienced physical impact, its internal electrical components could have been damaged. This may reduce battery life and cause battery level warnings to be triggered when the remaining life is less than the level indicated in the user guide. A single drop could result in reduced battery life, either immediately after the drop or over time, and could continue to affect the pump even once the battery has been replaced.

Affected pumps will display the warning message Low Battery Pump, indicating that the pump has up to 10 hours of battery life left. However, the actual battery life could be significantly lower. After the Low Battery Pump warning, progressive warnings and auditory alerts may be triggered. If the Replace Battery Now alarm is displayed, the pump will stop insulin delivery.

Insulin pump models affected

Please refer to the table below.