This Tuesday, June 30 marks the end of production of insulin pumps by Medtronic, which are keeping 350 patients alive. For these people, suffering from a rare form of type 1 diabetes, the period which opens promises to be distressing: no buyer will be able to produce these internal pumps before, at best, 2023.
- This Tuesday, June 30, 350 implanted patients will not have access to new insulin pumps that keep them alive and allow them to live normally.
- These implants have a particular form of type 1 diabetes that prevents insulin from passing through the skin
- A meeting was held at the initiative of the DGS but this did not lead to an obligation to continue manufacturing
“We feel abandoned”. It is with these words that Sabine Guérin, established for 27 years and founder of the “Collective of those implanted”, bitterly describes the situation she faces. This Tuesday, June 30 marks a turning point for her and the other 350 “implanted”. Effective today, Medtronic, America’s medical technology leader, is ceasing to manufacture the insulin pumps that keep Sabine Guérin and others alive. A decision justified by “difficulties on components that do not allow the continuation of production”, assured Why doctor Valérie Courcier, director of communications at Medtronic, last February. A production stoppage which, if there is the slightest failure in the insulin pumps, condemns patients to a high risk of mortality and to a life to spend between their homes and the hospital.
“We fight for our lives”
Each of the implanted patients, 250 of whom are French, has a particular form of type 1 diabetes.A rare disease in a common disease”, summarized Professor Éric Renard, head of the endocrinology-diabetology-nutrition department at the Montpellier University Hospital, which takes care of around a hundred of these patients. For them, it is impossible to inject insulin to control their blood sugar since their skin acts as a barrier. To circumvent the problem, they use an internal pump which allows them to diffuse insulin directly into the body. Thanks to this pump, their blood sugar is controlled and they can live normally. Without it, the risks of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia are very high and it is almost impossible to lead a normal life. “This pump was implanted in people for vital reasons, it is not for a comfort of lifeinsists Sabine Guérin. An implantee has tried all the treatments, all of which have been failures. That’s the only thing left to live in more or less normal conditions. You have to understand it well. We are fighting for our lives.”
Starting today, these patients will no longer have access to new pumps. This situation should last at least until 2023, when the potential buyers, Ipadic and Physiologic Devices Inc, two Dutch and American companies respectively, will be able to once again manufacture these pumps, which require significant resources. “Medtronic sincerely regrets the uncertainty and the strong concern expressed by the patients concernedreacted Valérie Courcier with Why doctor. The company mobilizes significant internal and external resources and remains fully engaged with authorities and healthcare professionals to help them find the best alternative solution for patients..”
Multiple reminders, no response
This Monday, June 29, a meeting was held at the initiative of the Directorate General of Health (DGS) to take stock of the situation and discuss the prospects. This meeting did not lead to an agreement to continue manufacturing insulin pumps. Medtronic had 45 pumps left to produce by June 30, but 30 patients are already on a waiting list, leaving only 15 pumps — not yet built — available to other patients. A new meeting is scheduled for September to take stock, but no concrete information on the handover between the different companies has been decided.
The previous meeting at the DGS, on February 7, marked the latest progress. Since “Collective of those implanted“has never ceased to relaunch, without ever having a return, whether it is the DGS, the National Agency for Health and Medicine (ANSM) or even the French Federation of Diabetics (FFD)”while the former president is an implanted”, is surprised Sabine Guérin. They also sent a letter to the new Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, which also remained unanswered. Silences which can, in part, be explained by the current health crisis but which leave those implanted without a solution. “When we take stock, we see that the file has been in the hands of the Ministers of Health since 2017 and it has not advanced one iota.laments Sabine Guérin. We cannot say that it was the coronavirus that blocked everything because our situation began to deteriorate long before the health crisis..”
“We do not abandon patients in danger of death”
The means of action of the Collective and of all those implanted are reduced as the days go by. If the American giant Medtronic is singled out for imposing its unilateral decision to stop manufacturing pumps, patients are also angry with the French state, which they accuse of inaction. “If nothing is done, we are heading towards a new health crisislaments Sabine Guérin. What we have is a serious pathology which is ignored by the State. At the February meeting, we believed that the DGS had understood us. They are fully aware of our situation. Their inaction amounts to failure to assist a person in danger. They must uphold the fundamental ethical principle that we do not abandon patients in danger of death..”
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