Put an indicator on the bottle

doi:10.1136/bmj.b2009

Published 20 May 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2009
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2009

Letters

Insulin pumps exposed to heat

Put an indicator on the bottle

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

Some years ago I tried to persuade several insulin manufacturersthat they should put an indicator on the container that wouldchange colour permanently if the insulin had been left outsidethe desirable temperature range and so become unreliable touse. Then the user would know what had happened. Currently,as was the case with the girl whose insulin pump had been exposedto heat and sunlight and who developed diabetic ketoacidosison using it afterwards,¹ there is no way of knowing whetherthis has happened.

None of the manufacturers was the slightest bit interested inthis suggestion, but perhaps this lesson of the week in theBMJ might stimulate some action.

Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2009

Hilary M Hearnshaw, retired researcher in diabetes care¹

¹ Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL

hilary.hearnshaw@warwick.ac.uk

Competing interests: None declared.