| Quote from the ADA:
"If you use a whole insulin bottle in a month or less, keep the bottle you're currently using at room temperature. It will stay fresh for up to month without refrigeration, as long as its temperature stays under 86F. If you would rather keep all insulin in the refrigerator, make sure to warm up the insulin before injecting it. Cold insulin can make the shot uncomfortable. Opened bottles of insulin will keep in the refrigerator for up to one month."
Quote from Eli Lilly Co.:
Recommended Insulin Storage Opened In-Use* Insulin
Room Temp. (59°F to 86°F)
*In-use is defined as when the stopper or seal has been punctured with a needle, and should be stored at room temperature. In-use PENS should NOT be stored in the refrigerator.
The storage of insulin is a complex, highly regulated process. Eli Lilly and Company must comply with standards imposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as standards established by other regulatory agencies, such as The United States Pharmacopeia (USP), both in the U.S. and abroad. Eli Lilly and Company establishes guidelines for storage based on the recommendations of the United States Pharmacopeia Dispensing Information (USPDI) as well as the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP: European Regulatory Agency). The USPDI states that an insulin bottle in use may be kept at room temperature for up to one month. The CPMP recommends an in-use vial of any aqueous preserved sterile product, which includes insulin, be used within 28 days. The reason is that the risk of germs getting into your insulin can never be fully eliminated. Lilly believes that storage recommendations should be the same no matter where you are in the world. Therefore, Lilly suggests that you throw away an in-use vial after 28 days.
They all seem to be saying that whether you refrigerate or not, one month is the lifetime of OPENED bottles of insulin, period. This is what I was always taught. I have NEVER, in 40 years of injections, stored my current opened bottles in the refrigerator. Never have had any kind of problem either.
Michael  | 
