I just picked up my Novolog vials and pens.
For the first time ever, they were filled with generic Insulin Aspart. The packaging is identical except it says “Insulin Aspart” instead of Novolog.
Anyone else have this happen? Ingredients look identical.
I picked up some from the pharmacy about 3 weeks ago and it says Novolog on the packaging still.
Nope never had that happen. Was the generic still made by Novo Nordisk? If so, I wouldn’t worry, if they switched me off name brand to a generic made by someone else, I would be asking some quesetions.
@T1Allison
It is the same insulin.
They are doing that because of the way the pricing scheme works. The pharmaceutical company (Novo Nordisk) is kind of stuck with a lot of the stupidity in the pricing.
The high cost of non-generic insulin is NOT (entirely) the fault of the pharmaceutical company. There are a bunch of discounts and rebates and bunch of money moving between the manufacturer, the insurance company, the pharmacy, the pharmacy benefit manager, and the insured consumer.
So they (Novo Nordisk) now make a “generic” version (they actually call it a “follow-on brand”) to get rid of some of the pricing ridiculousness. It is the same insulin!
Begin unrelated…
There is a very easy way to see this in action, just look at what you pay for your pods, and how the insurance company, the supplier, and the pod manufacturer (Insulet) negotiate this price!!
My supplier tries to bill to my insurance company $4903.05 for 5 boxes of OmniPods.
Stupid, because anyone can buy them directly from Insulet for $1500!
Insurance company says “No, we won’t reimburse the supplier $4903.05, we will only reimburse $1400, because that is the price we have negotiated with Insulet.”
So my supplier marks the $4903.05 price as “reduced” to $1400, bills me 80% of $1400, until I have hit my deductible, and then charges me 20% for anything after that…
But the initial billing of $4903.05 getting “reduced” is an example of the stupid thing that happens.
I am just putting all of that together to show how ridiculous all of this is.
End unrelated…
The short answer is that Novo Nordisk is the one who is making the generic. It is the same insulin, there is nothing to worry about with it.
NovoLog is Novo Nordisk’s “branded” name. The generic is the same exact thing, it is made by Novo Nordisk, and they refer to it as their “follow-on brands”, instead of using the term “generic”.
The insulin’s are the same, they are both insulin aspart, which as you know, we have been reading about recently in some very exciting and lengthy Word documents!
I’m not sure I understand
I have been discussing and sharing documents with Allison on some of the differences between different types of insulin and how they behave in a pump.
(the documents are not actually exciting 
)
Hmmm, I might be interested in seeing that!!! I am currently on Novolog. My Dr. (after yesterday’s fiasco) decided to try me on Fiasp which I will be picking up at the pharmacy tomorrow. I’m going to use the rest of my Novolog (I only have 2 vials left) before I jump into the Fiasp…but what in the heck is the difference?
Fiasp generally works a bit faster (faster onset, faster to peak action, and completely out of your system sooner), and for that reason some people really like it. There have also been occasional postings about various issues, but it’s quite reasonable to give it a try.