We just wanted to alert you to another unfortunate warning about insulin needles.

This time, the Netherlands Health Care Inspectorate has issued a public warning following the discovery of two million counterfeit insulin needles which have bee introduced into regular European distribution channels.

The pens are counterfeits of those manufactured by Novo Nordisk B.V., and thus far include lot number 08J02S and an expiry date of 08/2013.  Current information about the warning can be found on the Novo Nordisk web site at www.novonordisk.nl.

We've also posted full details about the warning on our web site at http://www.safemedicines.org/2009/07/warning-for-counterfeit-insulin-pens-.html, including the risks of using counterfeit needles and how you can identify a fake.

We encourage you to pass this information along to friends and family members who may be affected.

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There may have been some previous discussion here, but we just wanted to alert your group to a batch of stolen vials of the long-acting insulin, Levemir, manufactured by Novo Nordisk. The FDA notified patients and healthcare professionals on June 13, 2009 that these stolen vials are being sold in the U.S. and may not have been stored or handled properly, and could be dangerous for patient use.

The lot numbers of the stolen vials are: XZF0036, XZF0037 and XZF0038. Check your personal insulin supply to ensure that you don't have these vials in your possession, and read more about the alert at: http://www.safemedicines.org/2009/06/fda-warns-public-about-stolen-levemir-insulin.html. You can also subscribe to news about counterfeit drugs or get handouts about counterfeit drugs in a variety of languages at SafeMedicines.org.