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Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

blog.lauramichet.com

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Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#31

Post by redserk »

chemicalsnakes wrote: post #16

Uh, okay, she didn’t advocate for herself on the phone and darkly alludes to not knowing what could have happened if she’d told them she wasn’t at her home and needed her replacement pump sent to another address. I think they would’ve sent it to the hotel without a problem. Her takeaway is that she should have been “meaner” on the phone, but I think just honestly expressing her situation would cover it. And “I don't…

Blaming her is not the right call on this.

The technology is absolutely amazing for the quality of life it’s given us, especially those with medical conditions, but the failure of technology in these scenarios can lead to hospitalization or death.

The customer care line requesting information about a plan means the patient’s care in a will-be life-threatening scenario was not prioritized.

Deprioritizing patient care when death is a possibility is a grim outcome regardless of where you live.

Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#32

Post by bonyt »

antasvara wrote: post #28

Reading this, my takeaway was less about the pump and more about how every part of the medical system is disconnected from every other part. There were some mistakes made but they were all pretty reasonable decisions. But the situation that caused this in order: 1. The support line for the pump won't suggest sending it to where you are because you say you have a backup plan. 2. The support line also isn't a doctor; t…

> Each issue is reasonable by itself...

The problem of many hands - when responsibilities in a group that collectively does harm are divided between many people, who can be held accountable when each person individually acted reasonably?

I think organizations are, more and more, siloing roles in this way intentionally (or at least emergently), such that blame can only ever be collective if they do harm. Since it's so much harder to redress collective blame, this can be effective in avoiding consequence entirely.

Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#34

Post by petesergeant »

> I know that going to an emergency room would have cost me an insane amount of money

I just don’t understand how Americans put up with this shit. I live in a country that only has private healthcare, and the idea that you can be insured and also that an emergency room visit can be expensive rather than specifically what the insurance is meant to cover is nuts.

Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#35

Post by phil21 »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #23

One other thing to try if you find yourself in a "need meds away from home" situation: Ask a local pharmacist. Find a local pharmacy -- preferably not a mega-corporate chain pharmacy like Walgreens or CVS -- and ask to speak to the pharmacist. Tell them your situation. They can often call your regular pharmacy and get your prescription transferred to themselves temporarily over the phone without even getting your doc…

Pharmacists also don’t need your doctor to write a prescription. They can dispense on their own authority. Scheduled drugs probably have made this more complicated. But if you’re looking for something that can’t get you high when abused it’s worth a shot.

For something like insulin a pharmacist can get you an emergency supply without calling anyone, should they see fit. Might be rare to find such a person though these days.

Re: Having your insulin pump die while you're on vacation

#40

Post by throwaway173738 »

antasvara wrote: post #28

Reading this, my takeaway was less about the pump and more about how every part of the medical system is disconnected from every other part. There were some mistakes made but they were all pretty reasonable decisions. But the situation that caused this in order: 1. The support line for the pump won't suggest sending it to where you are because you say you have a backup plan. 2. The support line also isn't a doctor; t…

The pump manufacturer is at fault a few different ways. They have a responsibility to make pumps that don’t break, and they should probably issue a recall. They shouldn’t rely on the availability of a product they don’t supply as a backup unless they can guarantee somehow that the patient always has access. Their staff should ask where you want the thing shipped to and include options like receiving the replacement at a Fedex or UPS location. Their staff should be trained to ask “are you traveling or otherwise away from your home address?” And finally they should train staff on follow-up questions for a patient’s plan and confirm the patient has enough insulin on-hand to cover executing the plan.
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