" Medtronic knows that it condemns us, it's a health scandal ," says Figaro Sabine Guérin, 49. Diabetic since the age of 4, this mother was implanted with an insulin pump in 1995. “ It's been 27 years since I survived thanks to her. I was able to have a child, which I could not have had without. If we have more pomp, we find ourselves in a catastrophic situation, even fatal ”, explains this forty-something woman living in Villalier, in the south of France.
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Medtronic, an American company which presents itself as " the world leader in medical technologies ", has decided to stop marketing this pump called "MiniMed implantable pump (MIP)", today the only one available on the market. The decision was made confidential in the spring of 2017, but the patients who benefited from it only learned about it last June.
Every ten weeks, Sabine must go to the hospital to recharge her insulin pump and carry out daily checks. The pump has a lifespan of 6 to 8 years - its own has been running for 6 and a half years already. Victim of type 1 diabetes, Sabine is a special patient: her skin forms an “ insurmountable barrier ” and does not absorb insulin or only irregularly. Classic treatments therefore have no effect on his illness. Without a pump, type 1 patients will have to be hospitalized for an injection of insulin by the venous route and, in the short term, " all those who have been implanted will have problems of blindness, amputation, dialysis ", she explains. There are 350 worldwide in this situation, including 250 in France.
Since 2019, Sabine has been fighting to obtain a delay and new pumps while waiting for other suitable technical solutions. Last year, it created "The Collective of Implanted Diabetics" and launched a petition " so that the production of implantable pumps continues ", which today has around 10,000 signatories. Following their requests, the company Medtronic decided to postpone their production stoppage to June 2020. In order to justify its decision, Medtronic invoked " a problem of components compared to the pumps ". For Sabine, this judgment is more related to the financial interests of the company: " Medtronic also makes pacemakers, and insulin pumps are not profitable ".
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Today, there are still only 45 insulin pumps, 30 of which are already booked. Medtronic has promised to assign its patent to other companies, notably PhysioLogic Devices and IPaDiC, with which agreements have been signed. However, for the moment, these two companies, based in the United States and the Netherlands, are not able to produce a similar device for several years. “ If my pump breaks down, I have no more treatment. Already, some members of the collective have almost no battery left , laments Sabine. Their pump can stop at any time . ” The only concession granted by the group: consumables (catheter, needle, insulin) will be provided until the last pump still in service is stopped. Another solution for Sabine and the 150 members of her collective, the pancreas transplant: " But that means treatment with immunosuppressants, and we risk developing cancers ".
