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Labeling updates and warnings through April 2009 for insulin pens and cartridges
Labeling updates and warnings through April 2009 for insulin pens and cartridges
FDA has issued an alert to remind healthcare professionals that insulin pens and cartridges are not to be shared among patients. Sharing pens or cartridges may lead to transmission of blood-borne pathogens such as hepatitis viruses and HIV. FDA has received information that insulin pens may have been shared among >2,000 patients in 1 hospital from 2007 to 2009 and among fewer patients in ≥1 other hospital. The disposable needles in the insulin pens were reportedly changed for each patient, but there is still a risk of blood contamination of the pen reservoir or cartridge. Some of these patients have tested positive for hepatitis C, but a link to the shared insulin pens or cartridges has not been established.
