Diabetic patients using Dexcom continuous glucose monitors weren't told for hours that their monitors stopped working because of a service outage, according to The New York Times.
Dexcom, a San Diego-based medical devicemaker, manufactures continuous glucose monitors for diabetic patients that send alerts to their smartphones when their blood sugar levels are too high or low. They allow patients to track their blood sugar without pricking their fingers to draw blood. Instead, patients wear a small sensor on their abdomen that wirelessly transmits glucose readings every five minutes, according to the Times.
Around midnight Eastern time Nov. 29, Dexcom suffered a service outage that stopped the devices from sending alerts if users' blood sugar levels were too high or low. The company did not alert users of the outage until about 11 a.m.
Jake Leach, Dexcom's chief technology officer, told the the company's servers unexpectedly became overloaded, causing the service outage. As of the morning of Dec. 2, service still was only partially restored, the Times reported.
A "large portion" of Dexcom's users were affected by the outage, Mr. Leach said, but he didn't have an exact number and said he didn't know when service would be fully restored.
Virginia Coleman-Prisco, Ed.D., told the Times her 10-year-old diabetic son's blood sugar levels sank dangerously low while he was sleeping the night of the outage, and she was only made aware of it when her other son heard him moaning in distress and yelled for help.
"We rely on this technology," Dr. Coleman-Prisco, an assistant professor at New York City-based Mercy College told the Times. "We didn’t get any alerts, and that’s really dangerous. Our son could have died in his sleep."
Kevin Sayer, Dexcom's CEO, told the Times he regretted that his company let its users down by not alerting them of the outage sooner. He said that the company was working to fix the outage and would use the experience as a chance to improve its system.
"We’re going to be working on this — we’re not going to sit still," he told the Times. "This is a very big deal. I feel for these parents. I’ve gotten emails from many of them. We will be better."
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