
Faulty insulin cartridge holders are recalled
Healthcare providers are being urged to warn people that an insulin cartridge holder used in a number of pens has been found to be faulty.
Novo Nordisk, the company which makes the recalled product, said the warning applies to the NovoPen® Echo® and NovoPen®5.
It is thought some batches could crack or break if exposed to certain chemicals, such as household cleaning agents, so people who use the products are being warned to contact Novo Nordisk directly for a replacement cartridge holder.
Dr Avideh Nazeri, director of clinical, medical and regulatory for Novo Nordisk UK and Ireland said: “Novo Nordisk is committed to delivering high-quality products and sincerely apologises for this unfortunate situation and the concerns and inconvenience it may cause patients and health care professionals. We are working closely with the MHRA and UK patient groups to ensure patient safety and minimise the disruption this situation causes.”
Using a device with a cracked or broken cartridge holder can result in the device delivering a smaller dose of insulin than expected, which can lead to high blood sugar. The risk of experiencing high blood sugar with the use of a device with an affected cartridge holder is evaluated to affect one in 1,000 people.
If anyone has any questions they can talk to their doctor or contact Novo Nordisk directly on 0845 600 5055. The company has extended its customer care opening hours to include weekends to provide extra support to customers.
The affected NovoPen® Echo® and NovoPen® 5 batch numbers distributed in the UK are shown below. Please note the batch number can differ on the pen from the box that it comes in.
NovoPen® Echo® | NovoPen® 5 | ||
Batch number on carton | Batch number on pen | Batch number on carton | Batch number on pen
|
DUG0191 | DUG0191 | DVG1930-3 | DVG1930 |
DUG0192 | DUG0192 | DVG2199-2 | DVG2199 |
DUG0193 | DUG0193 | DVG3018-2 | DVG3018 |
DUG1613 | DUG1613 | EVG0506-2 | EVG0506 |
DUG1614 | DUG1614 | EVG0507-2 | EVG0507 |
DUG1615 | DUG1615 | EVG0615-2 | EVG0615 |
DUG1616 | DUG1616 | EVG0707-3 | EVG0707 |
DUG1708 | DUG1708 | EVG0902-2 | EVG0902 |
DUG1709 | DUG1709 | EVG2293-1 | EVG2293 |
DUG1775 | DUG1775 | EVG2906-1 | EVG2906 |
DUG1776 | DUG1776 | EVG2907-2 | EVG2907 |
DUG1777 | DUG1777 | EVG2910-2 | EVG2910 |
DUG1778 | DUG1778 | EVG3008-1 | EVG3008 |
DUG2049 | DUG2049 | EVG3112-2 | EVG3112 |
DUG2053 | DUG2053 | EVG6245-1 | EVG6245 |
DUG2054 | DUG2054 | EVG6822-3 | EVG6822 |
DUG2055 | DUG2055 | FVG7150-1 | FVG7150 |
DUG2055-1 | DUG2055 | FVG7564-2 | FVG7564 |
DUG2056 | DUG2056 | FVG7565-2 | FVG7565 |
DUG2058-1 | DUG2058 | FVG7565-5 | FVG7565 |
DUG2129-1 | DUG2129 | FVG7566-2 | FVG7566 |
DUG2218-1 | DUG2218 | FVG7567-2 | FVG7567 |
DUG2219-1 | DUG2219 | FVG7612-1 | FVG7612 |
DUG2343-1 | DUG2343 | FVG7613-1 | FVG7613 |
DVG1565-1 | DVG1565 | FVG7613-2 | FVG7613 |
DVG1566-1 | DVG1566 | FVG7616-1 | FVG7616 |
DVG1715-4 | DVG1715 | FVG7617-2 | FVG7617 |
DVG2297-4 | DVG2297 | FVG8531-2 | FVG8531 |
EVG2298-6 | EVG2298 | FVG8532-1 | FVG8532 |
EVG2299-6 | EVG2299 | FVG8654-2 | FVG8654 |
EVG2300-2 | EVG2300 | FVG8655-1 | FVG8655 |
EVG2908-2 | EVG2908 | FVG8657-2 | FVG8657 |
EVG2909-1 | EVG2909 | FVG8658-1 | FVG8658 |
EVG2915-1 | EVG2915 | FVG8659-1 | FVG8659 |
EVG3011-1 | EVG3011 | ||
EVG3011-3 | EVG3011 | ||
EVG3999-2 | EVG3999 | ||
EVG4253-3 | EVG4253 | ||
EVG5697-1 | EVG5697 | ||
EVG5698-2 | EVG5698 | ||
EVG5946-8 | EVG5946 | ||
EVG5962-1 | EVG5962 | ||
EVG5963-3 | EVG5963 | ||
EVG6823-2 | EVG6823 | ||
FVG7337-5 | FVG7337 | ||
FVG7364-1 | FVG7364 | ||
FVG7457-1 | FVG7457 | ||
FVG8212-3 | FVG8212 | ||
FVG8217-1 | FVG8217 | ||
FVG8218-1 | FVG8218 | ||
FVG8995-1 | FVG8995 | ||
FVG8997-4 | FVG8997 | ||
FVG8998-1 | FVG8998 |