Everyone knows that diabetes is deadly. Recent studies presented at American Diabetes association’s 70th annual scientific session reveal that diabetes sufferers have double the chance of developing serious blood vessel diseases and deadly events like strokes and heart attacks. The British study related to this aspect shows the seriousness of this disease. This study was conducted on 700,000 people who were monitored for about 10 years in 25 different countries.

The important findings of the study were:

1. Blood glucose levels should not be used to identify people with diabetes who have an increased risk of heart disease or strokes.

2. Diabetes may cause damage to body along with obesity, blood fats and blood pressure.

3. Average fasting blood glucose levels are only little related to the development of heart attacks or strokes.

Generally diabetes is a condition when there is high amount of blood glucose or sugar levels in the blood. This is due to stop in production of insulin or low production of insulin or produced insulin is not used by the cells of the body properly. The diabetes is mainly classified into two types: type 1 and type 2. Symptoms of both the types are almost similar, which include increased thirst, increase in appetite, unexplained weight loss or weight gain.

Nadeem Sarwar, a Professor at University of Cambridge, brings out news articles that state – “Our findings highlight the need for better prevention of diabetes coupled with greater investigation of the mechanisms by which diabetes increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Information on age, sex, smoking habits, blood pressure and blood fats is routinely collected to assess risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Our findings indicate that adding information on fasting blood glucose levels in people without diabetes does not provide significant extra help in assessing cardiovascular risk.

Another Professor at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences in Ontario, Canada advises,  ”Large long-term clinical trials of insulin-replacement therapy, incretins [hormones that increase insulin output] and other approaches targeting one or more of these abnormalities that are either underway or about to start are certain to shed more light on the link between dysglycemia and serious outcomes.”
Here the word dysglycemia is related to disorder of blood sugar metabolism.

For more information on diabetes causes and prevention, visit us at Causes of Diabetes website.

Houssiere, Durant & Houssiere, LLP filed the first MiniMed lawsuit against Medtronic, Inc., Medtronic MiniMed, Inc. and Medtronic Puerto Rico Operations Company, Nov. 30, 2009, on behalf of six patients who claim they have suffered severe injuries as a result of using a defective MiniMed insulin pump. With an estimated 60,000 defective insulin pumps on the market, thousands of patients may be at risk.

Medtronic Paradigm Quick-set Infusion Sets
“MiniMed lawsuits are product liability lawsuits where the product itself is on trial,” said Charles R. Houssiere III of Houssiere, Durant & Houssiere, LLP. “Trusting customers of Medtronic may have sustained injuries and damages because of their body’s possible reaction to the lack of insulin or the excessive insulin infused through the Quickset infusion device.”

MiniMed Insulin Pumps are designed to provide to Diabetic patients the correct amount of insulin their bodies need to survive. However, a potential defect in some of the Quick-set® Infusion sets that are used in conjunction with the MiniMed Paradigm insulin pumps may deliver an incorrect dose of insulin to Diabetic patients, which may result in severe injuries and death.

“As trial lawyers, we represent the injured and their families. We hope to inform victims of product defects of what they can do to be compensated for injuries caused by those products,” said Houssiere. “We intend to learn what Medtronic knew and when they knew it in regard to any possible defect in the insulin pump system.”

Medtronic, Inc. issued a Class I recall of their Quick-Set® Insulin Infusion sets, July 10, 2009. The company estimated that roughly 60,000 out of 3 million infusion sets could be affected. The recall explained a manufacturing defect of the tubing used in the Quick-Set® Infusion sets, referred to as “Lot 8,” which may prevent the pumps from properly venting air. The defect could potentially cause patients to receive too little or too much insulin, which could ultimately result in injury and death.

“We believe it is our responsibility, as trial lawyers representing people and families, to bring possible defects to the public,” says Houssiere. “We need to do as much as we can to inform the public if we learn there is something wrong with this device.”

He says potential injuries can include confusion, fainting, dizziness, difficulty speaking, sweating, seizures, coma and death.

This is the first lawsuit to be filed against MiniMed, Inc. regarding the insulin pumps. The multi-plaintiff lawsuit (case number 4:09-cv-03854) was filed with the United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Houston Division Nov. 30, 2009.

Contact Info:

Contact: Stephanie Brundage

Phone: 713-626-3700

Email [email protected]