Cardinal Health recalls Alaris SE pumps

Cardinal Health has warned UK healthcare professionals of a problem with its Alaris SE infusion pumps.

The company claims that there is a problem called “key bounce”, which means that when an infusion amount is entered into the device, the numbers could be entered twice accidentally.

This could mean that a person intending to infuse 4.8 millilitres per hour using an Alaris SE pump could unwittingly have inputted 44.8 millilitres per hour due to a problem with the data entry keys, Cardinal states.

Programming parameters must therefore be checked before starting any infusion therapy to stop this problem from occurring, which could have serious implications for patients if they are given potentially ten times the infusion rate.

In response, Cardinal will be sending UK customers warning labels that “must” be placed on each device.

The company has said that its customer advocacy team is available for any further information, while a question and answer fact sheet is also accessible.