Novopen Echo

[Dollyrocker]

How cool are these!

http://www.novonordisk.com/diabetes/pub ... r-kids.asp

Does anyone use one or know if we even get them in the UK?

 

[SophiaW]

I've not seen those before but they look fab We're seeing our diabetes nurse on Wed, if I remember I'll ask her about them.

 

[Dollyrocker]

I l;ove that it has a 'memory' function, the other week I injected my evening meal insulin twice because I just couldn't remember if i'd done it the first time! Of course I had and then spent till midnight trying to fight the hypo!

 

[goji]

I wrote to Novonordisk about this pen last week. They replied and said there is no planned release date for the pen in the UK!!

I would dearly love one of these pens as I frequently forget whether on not i've taken my levemir.

If they start selling them in other countries - I will try an import one - it is that much of an issue for me.

Maybe if you want one - write to Novo nordisk and ask about the release date - it might help them to know there is a demand.

 

[SophiaW]

I find that really annoying, when something is released in the US and we don't get it here. Why? Is it something to do with having to pass EU standards or something?

 

[HLW]

Those pens look great, I'd love one if they are ever available here.
I assume they cost more to manufacture, maybe NovoNordisk think the NHS wouldn't want to pay the extra?

 

[the_anticarb]

Can you buy from the states but give uk shipping address?

 

[Dollyrocker]

Oh, that's such a shame.

Last time I looked into purchasing an insulin pen I was shocked at the price, it was around £80 :shock:

I'll do a bit of digging and let you know how I get on

 

[meisonlyme]

I want one of these!! I currently use a Novopen Junior as I think it's more exciting than the novopen midi but I love the idea of the novopen echos!!

 

[karibilari]

Does anyone have any updated info on how to buy one of these pens?
I desperately need a 'memory pen' and my research has so far produced this:

Lilly last week told my pharmacist they won't be re-issuing the Memoir pen at all (so no need to keep using Humalog then) but NovoNordisk won't tell anybody anything until their pen is licensed for use here - Does anybody know where to access info on the licensing process (NICE?) to enquire whether it may EVER be released here? Some say the pen is too expensive for dispensing via the NHS but would we also be prohibited from buying it ourselves? Has a licence been refused?

The only solution I can see at present is:

Fly to Copenhagen from UK on Easyjet for ±£69
See a doctor to get a Danish prescription for a pen - appointment costs anything from £60+
Order pen from a pharmacy and collect it with the prescription; drug and pen prices are regularly updated, and this week's price for a blue Novpen Echo (confusingly listed as Junior) is £147.47

Extra costs for staying any longer in Denmark increase the price of acquiring a pen to over £276.47

I currently survive on disability benefits (as a consequence of total hypo-unawareness & recurrent severe hypoglycemia among other things), so I am absolutely broke. Denmark & the pen is out of my reach unless anybody has any better suggestions.

 

[karibilari]

Update: info from the MHRA and the notified bodies who approve insulin pens is that as the NovoPen Echo is already available in Denmark it must (in order to have been released legally) already have a CE mark, so there is nothing preventing immediate release of the pen in the UK or anywhere else in the EU.

In the US the pen is currently awaiting FDA approval, which can take months, but this info is available to any interested patients. Here meanwhile, I called NovoNordisk's UK customer care line to ask for a vague time scale for release but some staff were VERY rude, insisting on sticking to the party line we've already heard so many times, which is: 'There is no information regarding a UK launch date" and saying absolutely nothing else at all. Unfortunately this line wasn't delivered in a neutral robot voice but in angry and dismissive human tones - How dare a customer ask for info!
:evil:

No doubt there is some global commercial benefit they are trying to achieve by withholding it (AND any information) from UK patients, but 'customer care' is certainly not their objective.

:cry:

 

[Spearmint]

I wanted one of these for my daughter so that when i stop going into school at lunchtime to help her, i will know exactly how much she has injected!
Her nurse had never heard of them, looked them up and agreed they are great.
She rang the company who told her that they are due for release over here sometime next year.

I wondered if we were able to buy online from abroad and have it shipped over here.

 

[janetitherington]

Hi there,

I have had the Novopen Echo for five days now,
I have a really bad short term memory problem following a hypo that landed me on life support so I was forever asking myself have I taken my insulin?
On many occasion if I hadn't put it away fast enough I would get double doses and that wasn't pretty.

I would like to clear something up about the Echo- I don't know why this is aimed at kids- the only thing I can think of is maybe the colourings.
They come in metallic colours (mines red) but they are not brassy and actually look and feel quite nice.
My new echo is much heavier than the novopen Demi I was using before.

I am curious as to what they cost as I would like a second Echo for my Levermir

Jane UK

 

[noblehead]

I am curious as to what they cost as I would like a second Echo for my Levermir

Jane, given your short-term memory problems I would say your gp will happily give you another on prescription.