Insulin Pump Failure

Been pumping 4 years. I have a Minimed 712. It’s failed only twice, once after a VERY hard knock. They replaced it both times within 20 hours, and with much support.

How long have you been pumping? just shy of 3 years

What pump(s) do you use? Minimed 715

How many times has your pump failed? Twice - I’m on my third pump now

What was your experience on getting it replaced (turnaround, cost, service etc.)? The first time it went A33 (error) on a Saturday night (of course!) and there’s no deliveries on Sunday. Minimed was very nice and had a new pump to me 9am Monday morning. Free delivery and free return of the broken one.

The next time was more complicated because my pump is warrantied in the US, but I had just moved to Germany. We called the European Minimed helpline and they actually knew a trick to get it to prime (a trick the US ones don’t tell you ;-), but said it should still be replaced. They contacted Minimed US for me, but due to the time difference, the rep’s hours didn’t line up well with the US West Coast’s international exchange rep’s hours and it took like 3 days to hear anything back from them. They kept calling each other after-hours, you see. Minimed US did send me another pump, though. Don’t know why it was so complicated. Maybe I just should have called the US help desk straight away. Anyway, international shipping of the new pump and the return of the old was still free. It took about a week to get the new one due to the international issue. (And international express shipping with insurance on a $6,000 medical device wasn’t cheap for them!)

How long have you been pumping? 2yrs.
What pump(s) do you use? cozmo 1700
How many times has your pump failed? 5 times
This has been a terrible experience. My son is 11yrs old he was diagnosed at age 7. 2 yrs ago he went on the cozmo pump.The first one lasted about 6 months when the cap for the insulin cartridge cracked they sent us a replacement in couple of days.The next time and every time since the after first; the pump just shuts itself off and starts alarming. Last Thanksgiving was the last time we had a quick replacement. Since then we have had three more pump failures and it has taken 3 to 5 days. We have never gotten any feed back as to why the pumps are failing. Last week was the last straw with this company. My son’s pump failed the night before outdoor school. I was in tears and called the company and they assured me that they would have a pump delivered the next day to outdoor school. They promised that with his pump could get programed via a phone call to their hot line. I agreed and sent him to camp . The next morning I sent him to camp and then I get the phone call that the pump wouldn’t be arriving until 10:00pm. Well they never showed up or called until the next day. When the nurse called the advice line to program the pump they had the pump programmed to shut itself off after 8 hrs of non use. So needless to say ever morning he woke up high, until a couple of days of being home and I was inspecting the pump and found the problem. I called the company and asked why would they even have such a feature, let alone program my son’s pump with a shut ff. Their customer service stinks and I am looking to dump this pump and get my son a mini med. we are waiting to see if the insurance is going to authorize it.
What was your experience on getting it replaced (turnaround, cost, service etc.)? see above. sorry so winded but hope this helps…

Pumping for 8 years.
Have only used MM, currently Paradigm 715.
2 pumps have failed.
1st had no problems replacing, but second was a nightmare. MM didn’t want to believe me and it took about 2 weeks to replace. It was still under warranty. I argued with them for about 8 days. I finally talked to someone who believed me and they replaced it, but it took another 4 or 5 days to get the new one. I never found out what was wrong with my pump. Once it was all said and done, I didn’t have to pay anything to get it replaced since it was still under warranty, but it was a pain. I have had the 715 for the last 4 years and had no problems with it. I agree with Coll. Watch their billing if you go with MM. I have been charged many times before they get the insurance payment and it is very difficult to get them to apply insurance payment to bill later.
You do good to get others opinions on it, but be sure to get the one that most meets your needs. It is definitely a personal choice since you are the one that will live with it.

1st pump minimed 507c
2nd pump animas IR1200
Pump now medtronic paradigm 522

The 507C went bad a month before warranty was up they replaced it free. I switched to the IR1200 when the 507C warranty was up for the insulin rate variability. I had to have the IR1200 replaced after 2 years and again that was free since the warranty was 4. Before the warranty was up I went back to Medtronic because in the 2 years I wore the IR1200 it never alarmed me once for occlusions. I had then enough times to know that that is statistically impossible for none of the bad sites I had not to be blocked. My sensitivity for the pump to recognize blocks was set to the lest resistance to alarm. That alone did not make me switch it was when I contacted the company and they said “well there must not have been any occlusions” …um no.

No occlusions despite random ketones, high bg’s and blood pouring out of some and that was there answer. So even before my warranty was up I switched. I called my insurance asked to speak to the diabetes team. They got on the phone I told them about how many bad sites I was getting and asked it it was possible that zero were blocked. They said “no that would be impossible” They said to have Medtroninc send the paperwork in a week it was done. There were other times when Animas argued with me even so far as accusing me of being less then truthful when I had site problems and I said yes I insert standing up to which they replied "that can’t be true cause blah blah blah"
The help at Animas via the nurses and pump educators was great but whoever trains the people who deal with the other issue’s really needs to pay closer attention. I won’t even start on there delivery or lack there of. Even when the product is 100% paid for.
I could be the only one who had problems with them so this is just my experience but 4 years was to long for me to try to work with them.
Take Care and be loved

I’ve been with MM 712 (?) for almost 4 years now. I’ve had 2 problems:
1-The battery cap broke and they sent a replacement the next day.
2-On a vacation, I had a string of bad attempts at replacing my infusion set and went through everything I’d brought with me. When I called, they sent me 2 infusion sets the next day so that I could finish my vacation.

Side note-Because of #2, I now manually insert all of my infusion sets. The serter device that I was using before kept bending the needle. And it looked like a torture device.

Pumping over 22 years.
MM 522, MM 508, MM 506 (current backup pump), and CPI/Lilly (my 1st pump…was recalled by the company who got out of the insulin pump business!!!)
1 pump broke (the 508), traded up to the 522. :wink:
As unbelievable as it seems my old old MM 506 still works (it’s like a timex…takes a licking but keeps on ticking!!!), so I always keep it with me as a backup. Never used Disetronic pumps, but one of the advantages some of my friends had with them is that you got 2 pumps when you bought one…not sure if this is still true.

6 years pumping, 4 with the MM 512 and 2 with the MM522.

Lots of problems with the 512. I went through 7 in 4 years. Always replaced by Fed Ex next day delivery (only problem was when it totally crashed on a Saturday and I could not get the replacement until Monday – all other times, the pump was still usable until replaced).

Only one problem with the 522 – the plastic casing that the battery cap screws into broke. Replaced by Fed Ex the next day.

All replacements were with no cost to me. Interestingly, they acknowledged, when I got the 522, that the 512 “had a lot of performance issues”.

I had my MM 508 for six years and it never had any problems, the screen was just kind of beat up after six years. Just upgraded to the MM 722 two months ago, so far so good!

Yes, it is, and it’s such a comfort to know that if (I should say when) anything happens, I can immediately switch over to my backup pump. 17 years with Disetronic - now called Accu-chek, had my Spirit over one year now with no problems.