I’m copying this from another board. I don’t know anything more about it but it sounded like important info.
FDA Issues Public Health Advisory Regarding Levemir Insulin
For Immediate Release: June 13, 2009
FDA Issues Public Health Advisory Regarding Levemir Insulin
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has learned that some stolen vials of the long-acting insulin Levemir made by Novo Nordisk Inc. have reappeared and are being sold in the U.S. market. Three lots or a total of 129,000 vials of this product were stolen in all. These stolen insulin vials may not have been stored and handled properly and may be dangerous for patients to use.
The FDA has received one report of a patient who suffered an adverse event due to poor control of glucose levels after using a vial from one of these three lots.
The agency is advising patients who use Levemir insulin to:
Check your personal supply of insulin to determine if you have Levemir insulin from one of the following lots: XZF0036, XZF0037, and XZF0038. Patients can locate the lot number on the side of the box of insulin and also on the side of the vial.
Do not use your Levemir insulin if it is from one of these lots. Replace it with a vial of Levemir insulin from another lot. If you must switch to another brand of insulin for any reason, first contact your healthcare provider as another insulin product may require adjustments in dosing.
Always visually inspect your insulin before using it. Levemir is a clear and colorless solution.
Contact the Novo Nordisk Customer Care Center at 800-727-6500 for what to do with vials from these lots or if you have any other questions.
Wondering how stolen vials made their way on to drug store shelves, or is there a underground market for insulin? 129,000 vials–that’s a lot of hot insulin to move.
if they were stolen then how would they get into the pharmacy’s? Maybe this is warning for people who buy from online suppliers or something. Or maybe there’s a guy on a street corner peddling insulin, whipping out his converted coat cooler to show all the vials he has to offer ya.
I was wondering too when you guys posted these questions.Somebody had to make money on this scam! I followed the link to Novo Nordisk that didn’t come through when I copied and pasted. It wasn’t very clear but it said that 129,000 vials that had been reported stolen were “discovered this week at a medical center in the Houston area”. It said they had not been “circulated through the normal Novo Nordisk distribution process.” Curious!
Bet you’re right about this possibly being on-line suppliers. Wish we knew which vendors sold this insulin to the public because it’s bound to happen again & with other meds. Be interesting to know how it got stolen in the first place. Am picturing a masked thieves holding up an armored insulin truck:)
Pssst, hey little girl, want some insulin. The first vial is free.
I am not implying ANYTHING as this would be a horrible accusation against the supplier, but in the health and beautyaid fields, it is not uncommon to sell items close to expiration or over produced to middle people and then lose track of the path to the consumer. It goes “off shore,” for instance, and then comes back to alternative suppliers. There are people that buy over the counter meds and sell them to small mom and pop drug stores that cater to immigrants in their communities. Same with the name brand makeup you see at flea markets. Pharmaceuticals might live this scenario, but only after they have been stolen off trucks or out of pharmacies or warehouses or whatever. I sincerely doubt that pharma companies would ever sell controlled drugs this way.
Can you imagine if most diabetics took care of themselves? The black market for stolen supplies? Anyone able to hook me up?
stupid people stealing insulin