Cardinal Health announced that it stopped production of four Alaris drug infusion pumps. The announcement came after the FDA requested that U.S. marshals confiscate 1,300 devices out of the company’s San Diego facility on Friday. The Alaris pumps, which are used to regulate the delivery of intravenous drugs to patients, have been linked to at least two deaths due to an oversensitive keypad.
According to the FDA the defect in the keypad causes “key bounce,†which occurs when a number entered into the keypad is recorded more than once. If the intended dose is 3.5 milliliters per hour, the defective keyboard could actually enter 33.5 milliliters into the pump, and can cause a serious overdose.
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