Insulin without prescription?

[Amity Island]

Do you think we'll see the day when insulin is available in the UK without a prescription?

If you're Type 1 and are under the care of a hospital diabetes centre, then why not allow diabetics to pick up insulin as and when required? It would certainly reduce g.p's workload, time spent ordering, time spent sending prescriptions etc. The pharmacist could do a standing order for your insulin ready for you to pick up each month. Plenty of drugs are readily available over the counter, so why not a non-drug like the hormone insulin. You can buy cigarettes, alcohol and sugar/junk food which are known killers, seems illogical insulin isn't available without prescription.

Your views most welcome.

Thanks

 

[Deleted member 21371]

Insulin is a killer, so I don't think it will become available generally.

 

[Amity Island]

Insulin is a killer, so I don't think it will become available generally.

Hi Travellor, I agree that it would never become available generally, but I'm thinking along the lines of Type 1 Diabetics under the care of a diabetes hospital.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

There's a big (ginormous, even) price difference between buying aspirin over the counter and buying insulin.

If your idea is that people wanting the insulin wouldn't actually be paying for it, it sounds much more like some variation in the repeat prescription process. (Which is a perfectly reasonable line of suggestion, but doesn't seem like it would end with people buying it over the counter.)

 

[Amity Island]

There's a big (ginormous, even) price difference between buying aspirin over the counter and buying insulin.

If your idea is that people wanting the insulin wouldn't actually be paying for it, it sounds much more like some variation in the repeat prescription process. (Which is a perfectly reasonable line of suggestion, but doesn't seem like it would end with people buying it over the counter.)

Hi Bruce, so Type 1's don't need to order through their GP, just pick it up from a pharmacy when they need it. All done with the approval of the Diabetes Hospital. Still free on NHS.

 

[trophywench]

There is no current way possible for any doctor whether he works in a hospital or not, to issue an 'open ended' NHS prescription, even with a 30-day caveat.

If you think 'the system' needs changing, well perhaps it does - but there again the NHS most likely have enough on their plates already without asking them to get their heads round anything else at the moment IMHO.

 

[Amity Island]

There is no current way possible for any doctor whether he works in a hospital or not, to issue an 'open ended' NHS prescription, even with a 30-day caveat.

If you think 'the system' needs changing, well perhaps it does - but there again the NHS most likely have enough on their plates already without asking them to get their heads round anything else at the moment IMHO.

Hi Jenny, I was thinking of insulin not requiring a prescription. For type 1 diabetics under the care of a hospital.

 

[mikeyB]

I agree with Travellor. Insulin is deadly in the wrong hands, the perfect murder weapon. No fingerprints. It’s lunacy to suggest it should be available over the counter. Apart from anything else, you would have to pay retail price - to get it free, you will still need a prescription. In the UK that would be around £50-£60 for five pens of, say, Humalog. In the US, add a zero to those numbers.

A complete non starter, methinks.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

From what I remember, insulin could be bought over the counter a few years ago and it was a few years 🙂 From very vague memories it was stopped because body builders were buying it and a few deaths resulted from misuse.

 

[Amity Island]

From what I remember, insulin could be bought over the counter a few years ago and it was a few years 🙂 From very vague memories it was stopped because body builders were buying it and a few deaths resulted from misuse.

I think it is available in America at any pharmacy without prescription, quite cheap too!

 

[Martin Canty]

I think it is available in America at any pharmacy without prescription, quite cheap too!

Only in a few states, not sure of the price though as I'm not insulin dependent so never bought it....

 

[Emmakeets]

@Pumper_Sue off topic but why do bodybuilders want insulin?

 

[mikeyB]

Bodybuilders use it because it stimulates glycogen production in a workout, and supposedly prevents loss of bulk produced by working out. They still use it, prescription or not, because it doesn’t leave markers in the urine or blood.

Pumper_Sue is right, folk have died using it for that purpose.

It’s not really off topic, Emma, because it does relate to why insulin is prescription only.

 

[Drummer]

These days though it would be possible to microchip a person for identification, interface with their internal reservoir of insulin and online records, identify the type and usage and refill as required - at least it would be if I had anything to do with it.
There is a big difference between identifying a person who needs insulin to stay healthy and alive and allowing just anyone to obtain what could be a dangerous substance. There would have to be a change in the way the NHS is run for it to happen, but perhaps some day technology will be seen as a right rather than a way to keep the people under surveillance.

 

[nonethewiser]

Do you think we'll see the day when insulin is available in the UK without a prescription?

Hopefully not, in the wrong hands its a dangerous drug, even experienced user can make mistakes with consequences.

Remember what Beverley Allitt did to those poor children, she was a nurse who had access to insulin, obviously she was mentally deranged and a wicked evil woman, but who knows what could happen if someone similar got their hands on insulin with the intentions to harm or kill.

 

[Abi]

The only stuff availabe over the counter in America is the older,less effective,more dangerous stuff- regular (actrapid), NPH (isophane) and 70;30 (humulin M3/ mixtard 30). it is not free but about 10% of the cost of the decent stuff

 

[Lanny]

I've been sitting on the fence watching the posts on this thread progress & I'm still on the fence.

I WILL say 2 things!

1:- Given its importance to us diabetics, type 1's & insulin dependant type 2's of which I've been one for 7 years now, we can forget, or maybe don't even know given how films & tv programmes portray the use of & the dependance of insulin in diabetics, that giving it to non diabetics can kill them AND very fast too: plummeting blood sugars!😱 forgetful duh on the head emoji.

2:- I like @Drummer 's use of imagination in the use of current, or can be quickly possible, technology. It reminds me of how the James Bond film "A View To A Kill" inspired a then government minister to make a reality of the then fictional face recognition software for use in passports. The story goes that said minister saw the film & thought that's a good idea & made it happen!🙄

 

[Northerner]

There would have to be a change in the way the NHS is run for it to happen, but perhaps some day technology will be seen as a right rather than a way to keep the people under surveillance.

Won't be needed - I was promised a cure 'within the next 10 years' 🙄 😱 😉

 

[mikeyB]

I’m not being microchipped for any reason. Mind, I’ll probably be dead before any politician dreams that one up. Mind you, if I could get into Ewood Park or Old Trafford cricket ground without grubbing around in various pockets I might.🙂

 

[Amity Island]

Hi Mikey,

I don't think I've explained what I was saying very well. I was specifically asking the question about insulin without prescription for Type 1 diabetics registered with their local diabetes hospital. NOT, over the counter for mass public consumption. Perhaps people with type 1 could have an ID card whereby they present that to a pharmacy wherever that may be, be it in England, or Europe or perhaps worldwide. The insulin would only be given to diabetics that use it (just as it is now), not to the general public to murder people. It would be absolutely no different to it is now, people self managing, just a bit easier for people that need it on a daily basis.