what are the differences?

[lazydaizy]

While I was in the hospital several weeks back, the nurses were giving me Novolin R insulin. I did a search on Novolin and ran across a website that said the Novolin L was going to be discontinued.

www.fda.gov/cder/drug/shortages/novolin-letter.htm

What are the differences between the R's & L's or the other letters after the insulin names?
LazyDaizy

[JasonSmithMT]

Novolin R is a short-acting insulin (usual onset 0.5–1.0 h; usual
duration 3–6 h) and Novolin L was an intermediate-acting insulin(usual onset 3–6 h; usual duration 12–20 h). Novolin L has been off the market for about a year now.

Jason

[lazydaizy]

Thank you for your reply Jason.
Why would they discontinue insulin? Is it because they make too much or it is not effective or is there something wrong with it?
LazyDaizy

[Dewey]

Hi LazyDaizy,

I'm not too sure about the Novolin L (as the FDA letter didn't provide much detail), but medicines can be discontinued for a multitude of reasons. It could be that the medical company has upgraded or developed a better product, or supply is far greater than demand (as people are weaning themselves off of it and using newer meds.), or it may have even been discovered to cause side effects or long term issues (that researchers were unaware of previously). These are just a few reasons, but there are many more. Hope this helps some. :)

[JasonSmithMT]

LazyDaizy,

I don't know for sure but an educated guess would be that the demand had shrunk to a point where they (Novo Nordisk) didn't see the use in continuing to manufacture it. The market for intermediate-acting has been on a decline since Lantus hit the market. Novo Nordisk has recently came out with their own long-acting insulin analog called Levemir (insulin detemir) in what has to be an attempt to get some of the market share from Lantus (Aventis).

I have never heard of any problems with Novolin L and if you want to use an intermediate-acting insulin I believe Lilly still makes one called Humulin-L.

Jason

[JasonSmithMT]

I should have looked it up first but it was as I guessed.

This is from the Novo Nordisk website:

Why are Novolin® Lente and Ultralente being discontinued?

Few people currently use these insulin products because of the availability of newer and preferred insulin formulations that can be used in a variety of insulin delivery devices. Novo Nordisk is committed to diabetes care and will continue our leadership to develop newer insulin products and devices to help improve diabetes treatment.



Jason

[rzrbks]

Could you imagine the trouble controlling your B/Gs would be like using a long range, like Lantus and a medium range together?

I prefer the short and the long of it:D