Stopped for a few days in Bern before the flights home. Tried a city pharmacy for insulin, to see if it would be worth buying some here. For Fiasp or Novolog they charge 50 francs per vial, about $45. And they want to see a prescription.
The price sounds correct, but surprised you needed a prescription. I think @Michel purchased insulin all over Europe and North Africa without issue. Good to know.
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That surprises me, because you need a prescription where I live and I assumed that was the case everywhere in Europe. Apparently not. So always check before travelling if you plan to buy insulin in Europe.
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To add to this, I live in Germany and you can buy pens for €12-14 per pen, depending on if you buy a box of 10 pens or 5 pens.
This is the cash price - those with German insurance will pay €1.00-€1.50 per pen.
These prices seems to be fairly consistent for the different insulins I’ve bought - Abasaglar (Basaglar), Humalog, Humalog Junior or NovoRapid (Novolog).
I’m not sure if you can buy insulin OTC in Germany or if you need a prescription (Rezept) since I always have a prescription.
Also, if anyone wants to buy Glucagon in Germany, the kit shows as having a cash price of €17.50 on my last receipt. Again, I had a prescription (€5 with German insurance), so I’m not sure if you can buy OTC. When I last bought them, they had an expiry date just over 2 years away if kept in the fridge, or one year at room temp.
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