He was successful in using the new drug for at least 6 months before he died. Must be more to story.
” During the second night, he told his fiancée, Rose Walters (who also has type 1 diabetes and had been taking ReliOn), over the phone that his stomach didn’t feel well, but he would take more insulin”
Sounds like he may have O.D.’ed
The story quotes him saying that his stomach didn’t feel well so that he was going to take more insulin. It doesn’t say that he was monitoring his sugar levels and titrating his insulin per his sugar levels by a given sliding scale. Most Insulins will work but some are designed to work quickly and some to work slower to provide a smoother action over time with quicker insulins added to smooth out the peaks. If he was going by the feel of his stomach as opposed to the data his glucose finger sticks would have supplied him, he would have known if it was elevated glucose or depleted glucose levels he was dealing with. High glucose levels don’t kill you immediately but very low glucose levels can kill quickly. One’s stomach can be upset in both instances. If he was already in a lowered glucose state while thinking he was elevated and took extra insulin, not only would his sugars have dropped to very low level but his potassium levels drop also as a consequence as it is driven back into cell tissue by the insulin’s action. Thus a double whammy and a danger to heart function.(high glucose causes a keto acidotic state and potassium levels become hyper elevated).
This guy went on the feel of his stomach and not data and that’s what did him in.