384,180 Animas Insulin Cartridges Recalled by Johnson & Johnson

According to recent news reports, Johnson & Johnson has issued a recall for 384,180 Animas insulin cartridges due to the possibility of leakage. When an insulin cartridge leak occurs, an affected individual may not receive necessary insulin which could result in serious injury or even death. Without the ability to receive a full amount of insulin due to a defective insulin cartridge, a diabetic that uses the recalled cartridges could face high blood pressure or develop diabetic ketoacidosis, a potentially fatal medical condition. Two events have been reported regarding the affected insulin cartridges, but neither issue involved a hospital stay. The affected insulin cartridges have the following lot numbers located on the side panel of the containing box and the cartridge packaging:

• B201575
• B201576
• B201581
• B201582
• B201583

The affected Animas insulin cartridges were distributed from Nov. 30, 2010 to Jan. 4, 2011. Known users of these cartridges should have already been contacted by Animas and sent replacement cartridges. Consumers that have yet to receive replacement cartridges can contact Animas at 1-877-280-2339.

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While many product recalls can sometimes seem benign, more serious product recalls can lead to very severe and detrimental effects on affected users, such as the recall mentioned above. It's unfortunate that such an issue went undetected before the product was released to the general public. Unfortunately, instances of rushing a product to market before its been fully tested are nothing new in the American marketplace, even in regards to medical equipment.

- Texas Product Liability Lawyer Michael Grossman