Availability of BD SafeClip

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John Gray

John Gray

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I've been trying to obtain these BD SafeClip insulin pen-needle clipping devices from pharmacies since May 2022, without any success.

Emails to BD have produced no result.

They are hardly essential devices, but I wonder if anyone else has had the same problems?
 
It does seem to be out of stock in the first few online pharmacies a quick internet search offered.

The ones on Amazon seem crazy-expensive by comparison (perhaps old/limited stock?).

www.bd.com (the main Beckton Dickinson website) seems to mention distributors in the US, but not UK.

Hope you are able to get hold of one eventually!
 
Never heard of this company (and the website doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence) but this online retailer doesn’t show them as out of stock?

Easywellbeing Healthshop BD SAFE-CLIP NEEDLE CLIPPER - 1 Easywellbeing Healthshop

BD Safe Clip is a unique needle-clipping device that will remove the used needle from your insulin syringe or insulin pen. The new BD Safe Clip can clip off up to 1500 needles between 28G and 31G and in length from 5mm to 12.7mm. The BD Safe Clip has an i
www.easywellbeing.com www.easywellbeing.com
 
After scratching myself badly on the remains of a clipped needle, I stopped using the clipper. I am not convinced of the value of them.
At the time, I was told to just put my sharps in a plastic bottle and then put that out with the usual rubbish. I would always return the lid to the needles and lancets so the risk was low. Now I use a sharps box.
 
helli said:
Now I use a sharps box.
Click to expand...

A sharps box is definitely the way. The idea of sticking them in an old bleach bottle is now specifically mentioned as a “please do not do that” (presumably because it was such common advice back in the day).

(my emphasis)

www.nhs.uk

Request clinical waste collection

Arrange for a collection of clinical waste - for items like used syringes, drugs, pharmaceuticals and surgical waste
www.nhs.uk www.nhs.uk

Do not use other bins​

Do not put used needles or other sharps in:

  • any type of household bin (for example, a general rubbish bin or a recycling bin)
  • a container that's no longer needed, such as a drinks can or bottle
 
Thanks, everyone! [@RBZ5416 - your link has lost a final 'r' !]
I see Amazon offers BD SafeClips - at £16 each!

My normal post-injection action is to clip off the end of the needle, carefully replace the small hard hollow cylindrical needle cap (if it came with one) on what's left of the needle, replace the more-flexible overall covering cap on top of the needle body, twist off, and put the whole thing in a sharps bin.

The Novofine Needle Remover is a completely new device to me - my local pharmacy said there was no equivalent to the BD SafeClip! There was a review of it which gives a few more details on how it works. I may well try to get one, to try it.
 
John Gray said:
@RBZ5416 - your link has lost a final 'r' !
Click to expand...
Apologies, was trying to shave off the enormous Google referral that make a simple URL 5,000 characters long! Now fixed.

But I think I've misunderstood it. It looks to just be a device to hold the whole needle assembly so you don't have to touch it while removing from the pen. Rather than removing the needle itself from the carrier.

Novo's Australian site says they give them out free, so might be worth a call/email to the UK team? Worst case they should be able to tell you who may have stock.
 
John Gray said:
Thanks, everyone! [@RBZ5416 - your link has lost a final 'r' !]
I see Amazon offers BD SafeClips - at £16 each!

My normal post-injection action is to clip off the end of the needle, carefully replace the small hard hollow cylindrical needle cap (if it came with one) on what's left of the needle, replace the more-flexible overall covering cap on top of the needle body, twist off, and put the whole thing in a sharps bin.

The Novofine Needle Remover is a completely new device to me - my local pharmacy said there was no equivalent to the BD SafeClip! There was a review of it which gives a few more details on how it works. I may well try to get one, to try it.
Click to expand...

If you’re putting the needles in a sharps bin, you don’t need to clip the end off the needle. It will all be kept safe and disposed of carefully.
 
I believe clipping the end of the needle off before putting it in the sharps bin was a recommendation "some time ago" *, perhaps when my local authority was collecting sharps bins direct from the user.
Now that I just return the filled sharps bin to the pharmacy, there is less need - if any - to clip off the needle.
* the recommendation might actually have come from the SafeClip manufacturers!

The NovoFine Needle Remover doesn't appear anywhere [that I can find!] on the various UK, US or 'global' Novo Nordisk websites, so I suspect its manufacture has been discontinued.
 
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We had one on prescription when daughter was first diagnosed. I thought the idea was that it removed and stored the sharp part of the needle so that you could just put the plastic bit in a normal waste bin and then just throw away the whole thing when it was full. An easy way of disposing of needles when you are out and about and don’t have a sharps bin with you. I only used it a handful of times though, it didn’t seem to clip the needle off completely, there was still a bit left that could stick into you, so it all seemed a bit of a waste of time and effort. Just wrap your needles up or keep a container to put them in while you’re out and then dispose of them properly when you get home.
 
I have always clipped and never used the cumbersome yellow boxes or had to carry something to put used needles in. The BD Safe Clip was fine, however they have discontinued it. I have contacted Diabetes UK to find out more and to lobby BD to resume production, or to find an alternative supplier.
Maybe you could also contact Diabetes UK about this, then they are aware of this problem.
 
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