Endocrinologist Appointment

I had a Zoom telehealth appointment with my endocrinologist. I had been sending her office email updates post-transcript but she wanted to discuss my blood sugar and medications. UCLA also has been asking me to see my endocrinologist too.

The appointment went well. I had given her assistant all my blood sugar readings for a week. Since I am already at the maintenance level for prednisone, she does not think my blood sugar will decrease further from reducing other medications. The pill I am taking, Januvia, does the same function as the HumaLOG, which is to control blood sugar due to food. Since my blood sugar is consistently above 200 during the day, she is replacing the Januvia with a long-lasting insulin. She had prescribed Toujeo previously but I never used it. Now I will need to inject two types of insulin each day. Ugh.

The pricing on the pen needles also suck. At UCLA, I had a copay of $30 for a box of 32 gauge 4mm needles. My local pharmacy wanted $44 as copay for the same needles. I have not checked my mail order pharmacy for prices. On Amazon, there are a lot of inexpensive options for the same size needles. However, none of them will deliver to my house, probably because you need a prescription in some states to order insulin needles. I did find another mail order diabetic supply company that has 100 needles of the same size for $11 per box of 100. Even with shipping, that is much cheaper than either of my pharmacies. Hopefully a needle is just a needle so as long as it is the same size, the needle will work with both pens.

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This is what I initially received from UCLA along with the HumaLOG pens. I looked at the pharmacy receipt and UCLA’s price was $71.50, and my copay was $30. On Amazon, the same item with 90 needles cost $45, but there are other sellers selling for as low as $15. Of course, I cannot order since no one will ship “prescription medical devices” out to patients. You probably have to be outside the USA to receive these items. Our medical insurance system is so corrupt.

I also tried getting needles at Albertsons pharmacy. My endocrinologist sent over a prescription for Droplet pen needles, same 32 gauge 4 mm needles as the BD ones above. Albertsons said my copay was $44 but this item clearly sells on Amazon for $13.89 a box. Again, I cannot order it from Amazon due to our corrupt medical insurance system.

Searching online, I found a company called Medical Supply Corner selling the Droplet needles for $9.99 for a box of 100. I ended up ordering three boxes to spread out the $6 shipping cost. They also have a four box pack for $40 that I did not see before ordering. I used my FSA debit card and the transaction went through. Hopefully the will ship the items to me but I am expecting the order to be blocked, or maybe the SWAT will come knocking to get the needles back.