Omnipod pod recall: check your lot numbers and know your backup plan
Insulet issued a UK safety notice for certain Omnipod 5 and Eros pods: a small cannula tear can leak insulin and under-deliver it, risking highs and DKA.
If you wear an Omnipod pump, there is a recall worth acting on. On 4 June 2026, Insulet, the company that makes Omnipod, issued an urgent UK safety notice for certain batches of the Omnipod 5 and the older Omnipod (Eros) pods. In some affected pods, a small tear in the cannula (the thin, soft tube that carries insulin from the pod into your skin) can let insulin leak out, so you receive less than the pump records. Getting less insulin than you think can push your glucose high for no obvious reason, and if that goes unnoticed, it can lead to DKA.
- The fault is a small cannula tear that lets insulin leak, so an affected pod can quietly deliver less than you expect.
- Under-delivered insulin can push glucose high, and if it is missed it can lead to DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis, a dangerous build-up of acids called ketones that happens when the body has too little insulin).
- Check the lot numbers (the batch code on the pod box) against the affected list Insulet sends out, and stop using any that match.
- Insulet replaces affected pods for free, so there is no cost to swapping them out.
- Keep a backup insulin pen and your team’s sick-day plan within reach, in case a pod fails.
What Insulet has flagged
This is what the health service calls an urgent field safety corrective action, the formal name for a manufacturer telling users to act on a fault straight away. Insulet has found that in certain batches, the cannula tubing can develop a small tear. If that tube (the one the pod pushes just under your skin) tears, some insulin leaks out instead of going in, so the amount the pump records is not the amount you actually receive.
It affects specific lots of the Omnipod 5 and the older Omnipod (Eros), not every pod on the market. That is why the lot number matters. It is the batch code printed on the pod box and pouch, and it is how you tell an affected pod from a fine one. Insulet is contacting users and clinics with the list of affected lots.
The practical steps, without guesswork
First, find the lot numbers on your pod boxes and check them against the affected list from Insulet. If yours are on it, stop using those pods and contact Insulet for free replacements. If you are not sure whether you are affected, your diabetes team or Insulet can help you check rather than leaving it to chance.
Second, treat an unexplained high with a little more suspicion than usual while this is live. If your glucose is climbing and will not come down, a leaking or failed pod is one possible reason, so it is reasonable to change the pod or switch to your backup insulin pen as your team’s plan sets out, and to check for ketones. How much insulin any correction needs is always worked out with your team, never read off a chart.
Worth paying attention to
Questions that make an appointment useful
When it's urgent
An under-delivering pod can let ketones build up, so know the emergency signs. If you are being sick, drowsy, breathing heavily or fast, have stomach pain, or your breath smells fruity, alongside a high glucose, this can be DKA, and you should call 999 or go to A and E straight away. Do not wait to finish testing first, and do not wait to see if it settles. If you are running high and feel unwell but it is not that severe, check ketones if you can and contact your diabetes team or NHS 111, because a high ketone reading is itself a reason to get urgent help.