New Epipen Recall

[GoingNuts]

https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm624986.htm?utm_campaign=FDA%20MedWatch%20-%20Some%20EpiPen%20auto-injectors%20may%20not%20readily%20slide%20out%20of%20carrier%20tube&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

[hezzier]

I realize the epi pen is still the industry standard, but with all the issues of pricing, recalls, shortages, extending expiration dates and now the label being applied incorrectly and anything else I've forgotten...could this be the demise of the epi pen?

[spacecanada]

This issue was reported in Canada months ago... People here were fuming because we don't have any other option (other than the temporary availability of Auvi-Q.)  Australia and a fe other countries are in the same situation, where EpiPen is the only available auto injector brand.

[GoingNuts]

 

[Janelle205]

With what seems like constant issues and recalls with auto injectors, I would really just like to ask the doctor for a vial and some syringes, and just keep auto injectors as a backup for if I can't do a syringe injection or DSD had to do it.

[SilverLining]

With what seems like constant issues and recalls with auto injectors, I would really just like to ask the doctor for a vial and some syringes, and just keep auto injectors as a backup for if I can't do a syringe injection or DSD had to do it.

I used to carry a pre-loaded syringe called an Anakit.  No way could I have used it myself.

1. Remove plastic cover from needle.
2. Aim needle up and flick to get air bubbles to the top.
3. Use plunger slowly until just a few drops of epinephrine leak out.
4. Stick needle into leg.
5. Push plunger half way.
6. Remove needle and wait to see if second shot it required,
7. Repeat steps 1-4. Push plunger all the way in,

~~~

This was taken off the market. Now, you would have to add measuring the epinephrine into the needle, but there would only be one dose in it, so if a second shot is needed, you are back to needing to fill the needle.

Not something a person anaphylaxing would likely be capable of doing. Also not something a panicking parent would be capable of doing. (Not all parents would be panicking, but I bet most could not safely do all the steps required.)

[spacecanada]

I can barely operate an EpiPen in anaphylaxis, even though I know how.  A phial and syringe would be challenging to carry around (for me, anyway), and impossible for me to actually use in an emergency.  Auviq-Q's audio prompts are extremely helpful in complete delirium.

Ampules require two needle types, too. You first have to break the ampule, draw up the right dose of epinephrine with a filtered needle, switch the needle to the one used for injections, and then follow steps 1 through 4 from the AnaKit. 

[PurpleCat]

This whole conversation scares me!

[spacecanada]

Also, good luck teaching a child to use a syringe - or a teacher, a babysitter, a friend, a coach, or some other caregiver/person of trust.  I'm pretty sure all my friends (except those who work in the medical or first responder fields) would be TERRIFIED if I told them I needed a carefully drawn up syringe in an emergency. 

[Janelle205]

I would definitely want auto injectors on hand for my husband or the kids or if I couldn't handle drawing an injection.  I'm more thinking a lot the lines of an extreme back up measure - I spend time pretty far from medical assistance.

I'm not sure if I could do it for anaphylaxis, but I do have 3 different asthma meds in multi dose vials and have managed to draw them in an emergency.  I know that I can do those meds at oxygen saturation in the low 80s.  I wouldn't want it as a primary med, but it would make me feel better in the middle of nowhere to have some on hand.