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Lilly Humulin L
posted by jblake on 07 Dec 2005 at 3:41 pmMy sweet dog Mali age 12 has been on Humulin L for 3 years after being diagnosed with Diabetes and was doing just great. Now you discontinue it and the Vet has put her on a new product she has been on now for 2-3 weeks. This morning Mali's Kidneys are failing she is dying and it's because you decided to discontinue what was saving her life. Maybe she is just a dog to you but she is my baby and my life.
Read the news article that this opinion was posted about:
Lilly To Discontinue Four Insulin Products
| previous page | post followup | alert a moderator | view all opinions on this news article |
| Humulin L |
| posted by Julie on 06 Jan 2006 at 1:51 am |
| I so agree! I have a 10 year old Husky that has been on Humulin L for over a year. She has her ups-and-downs, but Humulin saved her life. Most vets in my area don't have a clue as to what to switch her to. Most of which I can't afford. I'm not ready to give up and neither is my dog Indee. Lilly should have spent some time to see how many canines are currently using Humulin L and given us some solid medical studies as to what would be best to switch to. Shame on Lilly for their lack of heart and professionalism. |
| what is everyone switching too |
| posted by diane on 13 Jan 2006 at 3:36 am |
| I went to refill my cats' rx for humulin l when the pharmacy said they are no longer making it. I was never informed of this. I called my vet today and have not heard back yet. My cat has been on it since 4-05.when he almost died from pancreatitis. I'm almost out of his rx and am really nervous. Hopefully my vet makes the right choice. Are there any recommendations????? |
| Alternative |
| posted by Lane on 29 Mar 2006 at 11:48 pm |
| My Rotty has been on Humulin-L as well. For a short while we had her on Vetsulin, a porcine insulin. With lack of a better choice (or any apparent choice) this may be a decent alternative |
| I agree |
| posted by Jenn on 11 Apr 2006 at 4:38 am |
| My cat has been on Humulin L for over 1 year now after nearly dying from diabetic ketoacidosis. My vets know nothing of Humulin L being discontinued. Lilly should also be informing vets about discontinuing their products and alternative therapies as my pet, and I'm sure others are also, an atypical diabetic and it took my vet and I a long time to find a dose that worked for him. |
| Try other pharmacy |
| posted by Caroline Bartell on 12 Apr 2006 at 5:39 pm |
| I have been using Humulin L for my Husky for over 2 years, after trying many other insulins, this has worked the best. Our wegmans no longer carries it, but I searched around and found CVS carried it. The pharmacist keeps ordering it and it keeps coming in. I will eventually have to switch to VETSULIN which sounds very promising. |
| Surprised and Angry |
| posted by Kathleen Auer on 12 May 2006 at 6:02 pm |
| My cat Gabby has been on Humulin U for over 5 years. I went yesterday to get her insulin and was told none available and after checking they said it had been discontinued. Obviously the pharmacists weren't informed and neither were the vets, so that I could have warning and stock up. The vet feels that switching her to the new PZIVet drug will be difficult for her and she is well regulated. This new vet insulin costs over 2X what I had to pay for Humulin U (which wasn't cheap) but it worked. I have been calling pharmacies all day to try to find a vial on the shelf. Missed by one day at one place. Now I'm uncertain what to do. Should I try one of the other Humulins? 5/12/06 |
| Humulin U replacement costs 3x more |
| posted by Craig on 26 May 2006 at 3:01 pm |
| Just picked up my vet's recommnended (he was unaware it was discontinued) replacement for Humulin U. Instead of $28 a vial, I just paid $74! Outrageous!!! |
| Humulin L |
| posted by Heather on 27 May 2006 at 11:51 pm |
| My cat has been on Humulin L for over 5 years. It too saved his life. I was wondering what other cat owners are switching their cats too. I have had two different vets tell me two different insulins (Lantus or PZI). I am very worried about my cat. We bought enough insulin to last us through Dec., but then we have to change. |
| Humulin L Discontinuation |
| posted by Dale Miettinen on 07 Jun 2006 at 2:52 pm |
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Our 7 year old Miniature Schnauzer has been using Humulin L since February 2004. He's diabetic (you guessed, right?) He's also blind, which happened on a weekend because one of our ex-veterinarians prescribed and sold us eyedrops with steroids. At the time we didn't know. While we were trying to protect his eyes for possible cataract surgery, a veterinary ophthalmologist prescribed long term use of Pred Forte, which caused our dog to develop chronic Pancreatitis. He's been in hospital 3 times. I'm not certain why a 'professional' man would prescribe steroid medication that has warnings on pharmaceutical Web sites that long term use of steroid drugs can cause pancreatitis. Toss in the factor that Miniature Schnauzers are the breed of dog that is #1 on the list for susceptibility to pancreatitis, and it makes you wonder if anybody cares. The only rock he's had in all this is the Humulin L. I wish you'd reconsider the discontinuation.
Thanks for the opportunity to tell you about a dog who's had enough problems without having to go through a switch in medication. Dale @ tiinc@shaw.ca |
| Greedy Drug Companies |
| posted by David Snyder on 11 July 2006 at 5:48 pm |
| Hey folks it's all about $$$$ The Lilly company only cares about that and that's it. If it doesn't put money in the shareholders pockets the hell with those that benift from the drug. Why should we for one second think they care about people or pets (unless it's theirs of course). I'm told the PZI is good but you have to use a very small amount at first (1-2 unit) per shot until the bloodwork says the pet is ok. The hole thing sucks and I only hope those big shots at Lilly find out how bad their discision was on their own pet. Here's a thought when you find a product that's made by them and you can find a different company that makes something like it switch. Hitting them in their pocket is how you get their attention |
| Humulin L |
| posted by Jacquie on 11 July 2006 at 7:52 pm |
| I too have an 11yr old cat who has been on Humulin L for about 3yrs. I found out several months ago that it was to be discontinued and bought as many bottles as the pharmacy had. We are almost out and the vet who specialized in feline diabetes is no longer at the clinic. If anyone knows what to use as a replacement - please let us know. |
| Pet Diabetes Wiki |
| posted by We Hope on 13 July 2006 at 9:31 pm |
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We have much information on canine & feline diabetes and all insulins on it. Pages on switching to different insulins too.
petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Links are disabled here, so you'll need to paste the above into your browser--it works just as it is above. We went through this right after my baby regulated on Iletin II Lente--it was discontinued. He had antibodies to all but pork insulin. We tried Iletin II NPH but he had problems with the suspension & preservatives in it. He was entered into the pre-market US trials for Vetsulin--it saved his life. Finding his answer, we did a lot of reading; what came out of that was help for him & many answers for others--he's the reason I work on the Pet Diabetes Wiki--to share what we learned along the way of helping him. You might find some answers there for your pets' diabetes, so please stop by and see if we can't help! |
| What? No More Humulin L?? |
| posted by K Miller on 29 July 2006 at 12:03 pm |
| Sure wish I'd known it in prior months, like Jacquie did so we could have stocked up. We are leaving for a week, just as our miniature wire-haired dachsy has to start a new med--Vetsulin. I sure hope she doesn't need an emergency trip to the vet while we're gone! And yes the price is double what we were paying. My vet doesn't seem to be too sure of the dosage either! sighhhh |
| Insulin Options for dogs |
| posted by Lynn on 05 Aug 2006 at 5:40 pm |
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We too, just found out about the discontination of Humulin L. Our dog has been successfully treated with it for over 2 years. We were very surprised as was our vet about the news. If you search Humulin L on the Web you will find a "form" letter sent to doctors from the Lily company informing them of the discontinuation.
We're trying Humulin N. This was recommended by a Vet (Professor) at the Univ of Florida, Jacksonville. Our local vet consulted with him about the change. We're keeping our fingers crossed. |
| Humulin L |
| posted by Dana Wilson on 10 Aug 2006 at 5:00 am |
| Our pug is 9 and has been diabetic for a year and few months. He has been on Humulin L the entire time and acts like a puppy. He had cataract surgery back in Feb, doing fantastic. I found 2 bottles at walgreens yesterday, paid almost twice as much with an expiration date in feb 2007, something I always ask before buying these days. Is there anyway to get the drug company or another drug company to start manufacturing this again. Our vet says many times when a drug is discontinued another drug company will see the need and pick it up. How can we get this done? |
| Lente & Ultralente R-DNA Insulins |
| posted by We Hope on 14 Aug 2006 at 2:13 pm |
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Right now, there are only 3 major producers of human insulin products--Novo Nordisk, Lilly ,& Sanofi-Aventis. There's been much talk about FDA approving generic r-DNA insulins, but this has yet to leave the "talking stage". These companies say they stopped producing these types of insulins because they weren't selling in sufficient quantities.
People who need to use beef and pork insulin have yet to be successful in getting any of them restored to the market. They currently need to import it from the UK--but remember, we are speaking of insulins approved for people. If you want to try staying with r-DNA Lente, you might try contacting some veterinary compounding pharmacies. Checking out the felinediabetes.com site for their PZI list will get you contacts for reputable compounding veterinary pharmacies. You can ask them about compounded r-DNA Lente; some of them already do compounded r-DNA PZI. Do your research & ask a LOT of questions to make sure the pharmacy is reputable! You also need to know that compounded insulins vary from batch to batch more than manufactured ones. Dogs don't do well with the "longer" insulins such as Ultralente & PZI--they work better for cats. For dogs, there are two options--r-DNA NPH insulin (Novolin/Humulin) or Vetsulin, which is Lente insulin made of pork. HTH! |
| Humulin U Discontinued - Alternatives |
| posted by Angela on 15 Aug 2006 at 8:46 am |
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I too share the frustration with Lilly's decision to discontinue Humulin U. I have a minpin that has been on it for SIX YEARS!! I am scared to death of what this change will bring for him. We've battled all the typical diabetic issues with him; cataracts, pancreatitis, surgeries, infections, some things more than once. Needless to say he is part of our family, and I am very hesitant to mess with a good thing. We, like many others, will be starting Vetsulin this coming week with our fingers crossed.
On another note, I am disappointed that there aren't any other once-a-day alternative insulins for canines. |
| Humulin U And My Pug Bruno |
| posted by Kathleen A. Neuberg on 15 Aug 2006 at 6:01 pm |
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Shame on Lily! My dog is currently suffering because of your company. If there is a reason for the discontinuation of your insulins you might be human enough to let us know. Maybe you do not like the idea that many animals use your insulins.
Americans love their pets and they won't forget this. I am currently using medication made by your company and as soon as I see my Doctor again I am going to have it changed, because who knows, you just might discontinue it without any warining! |
| Legal Notice Given...But |
| posted by We Hope on 17 Aug 2006 at 1:45 pm |
|
According to law, anyone producing a life-sustaining product (which insulin is), must give FDA at least 6 months notice regarding its discontinuation. Lilly gave notice July 6, 2005 for all 4 of the last discontinued insulins.
The problem is--none are approved for use in animals, so notices went out to only the human medical profession re: the Lilly insulins. Personally got the word about this out through the canine & feline diabetes message boards in an effort to let people know--asked everyone to notify his/her vet even if their pet did not use one of the 4. Both people and pets have been suffering from Lilly insulin discontinuations since the 1990's when they elected to discontinue pure beef insulin. No one's without "guilt" regarding this--Novo discontinued all its beef about the same time. They'd discontinued their US pork prior to 2003 and are now discontinuing it world-wide. The Novo r-DNA Lente and Ultralente insulins outside of the US became history late last year. Everyone with diabetes using insulin continues to have fewer choices re: using what works for them--an animal and human problem. |
| Shame On Lilly |
| posted by Robert Specker on 18 Aug 2006 at 7:43 am |
|
My dog has been on HumulinL for 7 years. She is easy to regulate. My pharmacist told me about Lilly discontinuing this product but I rationally assumed there would be a replacement.
Without one it is the same as going out and murdering countless pets. I'm just in shock. I lost my other dog a month ago and still cannot get past the grief. Now this. I will have no problem contacting the FDA and my representatives in congress. And I wonder how aware Lilly's shareholders are of this action. This is nothing but heartless greed. |
| Shame On Them ALL! |
| posted by We Hope on 22 Aug 2006 at 6:26 am |
|
The bottom line for everyone using insulin is that if you don't move along with the "mainstream" (what the pharma is willing to produce and sell to you), Big Pharma doesn't care--person or pet. Their interest is in selling the newer analog insulins as they are still under patent, thus more profit to them.
A standard batch of Lilly insulin is 10,000 liters--many, many 10ml vials. Can they produce smaller batches? You bet--even if it means using another company to contract the work out to. The people and people with pets who pleaded for pure beef not to be discontinued in the 90's were met with deaf ears; at the time, there were about 500,000 people using the insulin in the US alone. FDA's responses have been that they cannot make any pharma produce a product; there is no US law requiring this, no matter what the product and circumstances are. My research began when Lilly stopped its Iletin II Lente because my little one could only use a pork lente insulin. The personal search ended with obtaining pork lente insulin from Intervet (Vetsulin) before it was US-approved. We wound up with better insulin and quite an education re: the insulin "game", which, for the major producers of human-approved insulin, is played no holds barred, for profit. It is a horrible situation which many have tried to change--like a sinister game of musical chairs--when they pull your insulin, you are out of the game. No laws ever change to protect anyone from this. |
| Dog Lover |
| posted by Al Clausen on 23 Aug 2006 at 1:36 pm |
| I agree. My dog was dependant on Humulin L. We can't get anything else to work. We have only until Feb of 07 then she dies.... Why did you do this to our little miniature schnauzer? HELP SOMEONE.... Lilly get a heart. |
| A Possibility |
| posted by We Hope on 24 Aug 2006 at 8:09 am |
|
Al,
If you have an e-mail address which you are willing to post here, there is one possibility which might be tried. Beta Laboratorios of Argentina is the only producer of r-DNA Lente insulin which I know is still making this type of insulin; they produce their insulins in U40, U80 & U100 strength. Beta also produces pure beef and pure pork insulins. What will need to be done here involves much red tape--you will need to contact FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine for instructions regarding applying for an IND-personal use. (E-mail the FDA-CVM Ombudsman to start.) This is short for Investigational New Drug--to my knowledge, no one in the US is currently importing Beta insulins for themselves or their pets. It will require work from you and your vet together with contacting Beta in Argentina. I can give you a more detailed description of the process in e-mail, as it's quite long. Getting the IND-personal use would permit you to import their r-DNA Lente insulin for your little one. We did this to get Caninsulin before it was approved as Vetsulin in the US, so I've "been there". You will need 2 very important partners in this: your vet and good communication with Beta in Argentina. Your vet will need to state that no insulin currently available in the US is effective in controlling the diabetes. We had wonderful help from Intervet when we needed to do this. Beta produces most of the insulin sold in Argentina and is also active in many Central & South American markets, so it's not a terribly tiny operation. Do know people in Germany who import Beta insulins for their personal use. I think we can work this out, but it's far too much to post on this message board. |
| Humulin L - Hope |
| posted by Al Clausen on 25 Aug 2006 at 5:33 am |
| aclausen1@wi.rr.com is my email.. If you can help me with Humulin L, please do... I pick up my schnauzer from the vet today after nearly losing her. I have found enough Humulin L to last a few months... Please email me We Hope.... |
| Vetsulin Success? |
| posted by Shannon on 29 Aug 2006 at 5:21 pm |
|
I have, like you all, a dog who has been on Humulin L for 4+ years and I only found out about its discontinuation last week. My vet and pharmacy were both unaware--amazing, right?!
My question to those who have transitioned their pup to Vetsulin is, how successful has it been? My guy uses 22 units of Humulin L daily and is decently regulated (he was real tough to regulate so I'm not excited about the prospect of doing it all over again--poor guy). I am optimistic but deeply concerned. |
