- Cardinal Health notified its customers of a voluntary recall for all Alaris Pump modules, model 8100 (formerly known as Medley Pump module), shipped prior to September 27, 2007. The recall covers Alaris Pump modules that were distributed to 46 States, the District of Columbia, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia. The pump module was recalled because the units may contain misassembled occluder springs (bent, broken, nested or missing) that occurred during manufacturing. Misassembled springs could lead to overinfusion that could result in serious adverse health consequences or death. Overinfusion may be difficult to detect because the misassembled springs can work intermittently, and there is no warning or notification of an overinfusion. See the manufacturer’s press release for a list of the serial numbers for the affected devices and how the manufacturer will work with customers to minimize disruption while completing an inspection of the devices.
Filed under: Alaris Pump Module, Medical Devices, Recall | Tagged: Alaris, Cardinal Health, Death, Infusion Pumps, Recall
[...] Recall: Cardinal Health Alaris Pump Module Cardinal Health notified its customers of a voluntary recall for all Alaris Pump modules, model 8100 (formerly known as Medley Pump module), shipped prior to September 27, 2007. The recall covers Alaris Pump modules that were distributed to 46 States, the District of Columbia, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia. The pump module was recalled because the units may contain misassembled occluder springs (bent, broken, nested or missing) that occurred during manufacturing. Misassembled springs could lead to overinfusion that could result in serious adverse health consequences or death. Overinfusion may be difficult to detect because the misassembled springs can work intermittently, and there is no warning or notification of an overinfusion. See the manufacturer’s press release for a list of the serial numbers for the affected devices and how the manufacturer will work with customers to minimize disruption while completing an inspection of the devices. [...]
[...] Recall: Cardinal Health Alaris Pump Module [...]
This Alaris pump defect cost me my job.
I believe that a free pour happened on one of my patients. I did everything I could when this happened to make sure my patient was OK. I filed an incident report. My immediate supervisor that day tried to keep the pump away from me so I could not add the serial numbers of the pumps in use to the incident report. She claims she didn’t understand why I needed them although she has a background in medical/legal. Then risk management interrogated me with a person who specialized in the rollout of the pumps. They lied to me and told me the drug infusing was not on the drug library. It was on the drug library. I witnessed it on the drug library during am rounds and the night nurse confirmed the same. Another employee found out that the Alaris pump report itself showed that the drug infusing was on the drug library.
Fortunately, my patient was not injured by the event. Of course, the significant other was upset. The doctor explained. I reinforced that I did not know how this happened.
My hospital did their best to blame the incident on me. It contributed to me getting fired from my job. I have never had something this terrible happen to me while I have been a nurse. If I were a patient at a hospital and found out the hospital was using this potentially deadly infusion pump, I would arrange to leave the hospital and go to a good hospital that was using a different pump. This pump can ruin people’s lives or end a person’s life. I hope the public will demand that this is a mandatory recall rather than a voluntary one. Medicines are dangerous when the rate of infusion is not controlled. It’s not fair for the patient. It’s not fair to the nurses.