Insulin exposed to air ruined?

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AlisonRiley

AlisonRiley

Member Since 2016
So....my vet extracts the insulin from a Lantus pen and transfers it into a vial so we can use syringes for the shots (this is what she wants us to do). The first vial was fine, this new one I couldn't extract any insulin from. My mom asked to see it and next thing I know I look over and she had taken the entire lid off! I freaked out because as far as I know if the insulin is exposed to air it's contaminated and ruined. There's a small air bubble in the vial now too. Is it in fact contaminated now?

I have a new pen set aside to take to the vet, but that's $80 wasted. I'm so angry, I didn't expect her to do that.
 
Not sure what you mean by "she had taken the entire lid off" and there being a small air bubble in the vial now. Is the rubber stopper still intact? Could you maybe get a picture?

As for the rest, there's no reason in the world your vet should be doing any of that. If you have a pen already, you can just pull the cap off and use a regular insulin syringe to pull the correct dose out of the pen. That's what most of us do anyway!!
syringe in pen pic.jpg
syringe in pen close up.jpg


There's also no need for you to be paying $80 for one pen of Lantus. In this Insulin From Canadian Pharmacies post is the place in Canada that most of us are buying from these days.

You can get a 5 pack of pens for $149.99 plus $25 shipping and that's usually enough insulin to last up to 2 years for most cats
 
Thank you for all of the info! Yeah the Rx for the 5 pens cost me $420 at my pharmacy. I mentioned that method to my vet and she was insistent we do this, I don't know why.

My mom pulled the rubber stopper off the vial that did not work, then we ended up opening the former vial and pouring the insulin in that since the other stopper wasn't going back on well. She said she didn't know it couldn't be opened as I was panicking. So it's sealed up now but it was clearly exposed to air.

The new, currently empty vial she opened - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/buffyspike/IMG_5568_zpspyibny1e.jpg

I former vial that now has the insulin in it with the air bubble - http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/buffyspike/IMG_5566_zpswxqqzbfj.jpg
 
I think I'd just insist that my vet gave me a written script so you could "shop around" for the best price and then send it to Marks Marine in Canada. We are highly suspicious of vets that re-package insulin.....there's no way to know for sure that it's sterile or that they haven't diluted it before selling it to you.

As long as the insulin you have now isn't cloudy and doesn't have any "floaties" in it, it should be OK, but watch the numbers...if they start to go up without any other reason, I'd think the insulin was pooping out on you.
 
Did she stand right in front of you when she "transferred" the insulin to another container?
 
Alison, the air will not ruin the insulin however, it's likely the reason you cannot draw any insulin out of the vial.

Normal procedure for regular insulin vials (10ml vials) is to inject air equivalent to the dose you are going to draw up. This keeps a vacuum from forming. If you put in too little air, it will be hard to draw out the insulin. There has to be a balance between air and liquid in the vial. With the pens, you do NOT inject air because the pens have a different mechanism (sliding bottom that moves up as insulin is drawn). I'm guessing your vet has tried to use a pen as if it were a regular vial, injected air into it, then been unable to draw the insulin and that may be why she has come up with such a ridiculous work around.

You can try to inject more air into the lab vial your vet transferred the insulin to and see if that helps you draw the insulin.
 
From the images of the "vials", it appears that the "vials" are sterile vacutainers used for drawing blood. There is little if any air in the vacutainer unless air is introduced.
Also, as already pointed out, a little air will not heart/degrade the insulin
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I've decided not to use it since it looked fine but when I pulled out a dose it looked marginally cloudy, I don't want to risk it.

@ja9390 No, she stepped out of the room and came back. I trust this vet completely, even though she was unfamiliar with Lantus pens (her and my pharmacist went back and forth) I know she was trying to make things easier. Now I know I can just extract the dose from the pen itself so I do that now. Thanks @Chris & China!

@MrWorfMen's Mom That could very well be, thank you for that.

@Larry and Kitties Yes you are correct. The initial one was fine except the needle bent on the thick rubber stopper many times.

This is all new to me still so I appreciate the replies, thank you all again.
 
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