[Diabetes-talk] Eli Lily Humalog QuikPen

[Mike Freeman]

Greetings.

You may recall seeing a notice that Eli Lily was to discontinue production of the original Humalog insulin pen and that supplies were no longer guaranteed to be available after December, 2010. I received such a notice both from Safeway Pharmacy and from Wallgreen's. The QuikPen has been available for some time but the scuttlebutt was that Lily continued to manufacture the original Humalog pen in part because it thought it easier for blind diabetics to use than the QuikPen. This seems somewhat far-fetched to me but I've heard it more than once.

Be that as it may, I've received my first supply of the Humalog QuikPen. I can report that it is very easy to use whether or not one has useable vision. The pen is less complex than the original Humalog pen, has smoother action and requires less pressure on the "plunger-finger". The version I have can give doses in one-unit increments up to sixty units and clicks for each unit as one dials the dose just as the original Humalog pen did. The clicks are slightly less stiff or definite but they're very much there and I had no trouble dialing up the dose I desired. One also doesn't have to pull the plunger back to engage the dialing mechanism as one did with the original pen.

All in all, I like the QuikPen and assure you that if you are approached as to whether the pen can be used by the blind, the answer is an emphatic "yes"!

Mike Freeman