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Why has Lantus changed from cartridge to throw away pen?

E

EssexPaulo

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I've been using Lantus (once a day) for years and its very easy to store/carry around as its in cartridge format. Last time I went for a repeat prescription the diabetic nurse tells me that they are now ONLY doing pens that you use once and throw away.

I'm very aware of the cost that my diabetes has on the Health Service and the only reason I can think as to why Lantus are moving away from cartridges is a bigger profit for their company. There is so much extra waste, much more packaging and I'll probably need to find a bigger fridge. For me I find it really inconvenient, especially for holidays or when staying away from home.

I have also heard that this is possibly the future of short term insulin?

Paul
 
Your DSN is wrong, basically. Or, I hate to be cynical, but maybe a Lantus sales rep took her out for lunch?
As far as I'm aware there's no move towards throw-away pens.

If I were you I'd go back with this page printed out: http://products.sanofi.us/lantus/lantus.html (see Doseage Forms and Strenghts) and ask her where she got her info from when it's clear that the manufacturer is still producing 10ml vials.
 
It's 3ml cartridges (not 10ml vials) that are needed to be reused in pens, but they're still on list that Snodger's link takes you too.

I agree, I'd be livid if my long acting insulin (Humalin I) ceased to be available in cartridges, as I always carry a pen with spares of both short acting and long acting insulins, in case I'm delayed home at night.
 
If you go on the Opticlik site though http://www.opticlik.com/ it says....

"Thank you for visiting OptiClik.com. Because the Lantus Cartridge for use with OptiClik is no longer manufactured, this site is no longer active. To receive 24-hour support for the OptiClik pen, please call 1-800-633-1610.

Lantus® is available in the 3 mL Lantus® SoloSTAR® disposable insulin pen and 10 mL vial."

So it seems the Nurse could be right.
HTH
Angie
 
That's a US site though. I don't think that there is the same market for cartridges there.
The UK site still has lantus cartridges http://www.sanofi.co.uk/l/gb/en/layout. ... 40D0A47F3A
 
Um we'll I use cartridge lantus in a clickstar pen so I think it's still available
 
I'm very aware of the cost that my diabetes has on the Health Service and the only reason I can think as to why Lantus are moving away from cartridges is a bigger profit for their company.
Click to expand...
When I asked my pharmacist, he told me that Lantus cartridges and Lantus Solostar prefilled pens cost the same. It may even be cheaper because you don't need 2x Clickstar/OptiPen/whatever (in case on breaks).
 
copepod said:
It's 3ml cartridges (not 10ml vials) that are needed to be reused in pens,
Click to expand...
you're quite right. Sorry. I was angry on the OP's behalf and wrote the wrong thing!
 


They may cost the same in purely monetary costs to NHS, but they cost more environmental resources to manufacture, transport and dispose of, because a disposable pen is bulkier and heavier than a cartridge. In fact, I mentioned the issue today when I collected my short acting cartridges from my local pharmacist - a young man who has type 1 diabetes himself. He said that Lantus was reknowned for changing formats without giving options. Yet again, I'm glad not to be using Lantus or Levemir, both of which cost about twice as much as Humalin I.
 
They may cost the same in purely monetary costs to NHS, but they cost more environmental resources to manufacture, transport and dispose of, because a disposable pen is bulkier and heavier than a cartridge.
Click to expand...
Seriously?
 
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