News in brief: Dexcom G6 CGM on NDSS as G5 withdrawn; Doctor arrested over insulin ‘mercy killing’ allegation; Most hospital-acquired complications are not preventable

8 Feb 2022

Dexcom G6 CGM on NDSS as G5 withdrawn

The Dexcom G6 Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system will be available through the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) from 1st March 2022.

According to the NDSS, the Dexcom G6 will be available to all people who meet the CGM Initiative eligibility criteria, including people under 21 years with type 1 diabetes, and people over 21 who have a concession card.

At the same time the G5 Mobile CGM system will be delisted, due to supply chain issues experienced by the manufacturer and will no longer available through the CGM Initiative. The NDSS says current users of Dexcom G5 accessed through the CGM Initiative will be automatically updated to Dexcom G6 and there is no requirement for these people to see their diabetes health professional.

According to manufacturer AMSL, the Dexcom G6 features “advanced warnings and outstanding accuracy, has the ability to share data in real-time with family, friends and healthcare providers, and is compatible with the popular t:slim X2 insulin pump with Basal IQ technology.”


Doctor arrested over insulin ‘mercy killing’ allegation

A GP in Albany, WA, has been arrested by police who will allege he supplied insulin to a mother who intended to use it to kill her six year old child with a severely disabling neurological condition.

The 40-year old woman said her daughter had a condition that meant she was unable to move her body voluntarily and found difficult to eat, chew and swallow. She had allegedly been trying to raise money to pay for Masgutova Neurosensorimotor Reflex Integration (MNRI) treatment.

According to the West Australian, the woman has been taken into custody along with a 47-year old GP.

“It will be …  alleged that person left the appointment with a prescription from the GP in order to be able to access a drug to be used to end the child’s life, and that the GP was aware of the intended use of the drug,” a WA Police spokesperson said.

It is alleged the child was treated for overdose at Albany Health Campus where she was stabilised.


Most hospital-acquired complications are not preventable

Complications are common in hospitalised patients but are mostly related to patient factors rather than hospital care quality issues that can be modified, new Australian research shows.

A review of 1.5 million admissions at 38 major public hospitals in South Australia and Victoria between 2015–2018 found that almost one in ten patients (9.7%) had a complication episode.

However the variations between hospitals were determined mostly by patient factors (overall correlation coefficient 0.55) whereas hospital factors accounted for only 5% of the variation.

The findings have important implications for the interpretation of hospital‐acquired complication reports and implementation of mitigation programs, the study authors said.

“Failure to differentiate between the two groups of factors may lead to practice changes that are clinically sound but ineffective in reducing complication rates. Increasing the funding of health care, improved clinical guidelines, and training and education may reduce rates of complications attributable to hospital factors and health care errors, but are unlikely to reduce those linked with patient‐related factors,” they wrote in the MJA.

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