Hi, Just learning that BD320550 (“2nd Gen”) is discontinued, and the replacement my pharmacy supplied (BD 320122 “Ultra-Fine”) has a pokey looking nub at the base of the needle. Has anyone tried the Ultra fine with the extra nub? Does anyone know if there’s another brand more similar to the 2nd Gen?
Hi Emily @emilyok! I have used BD “ultra fine” pen needles and they were fine! I didn’t notice the pokey nub, but I was under the assumption that they were like all of the other pen needles and didn’t really look at them.
The NovoFine Plus 32G x 4mm has a similar flat base to the “BD 2nd Gen”, making it more comfortable. However it stopped being produced a few months ago because of manfacturing faults, and unfortunately there is no known restart date.
Amazing that now the BD 2nd Gen. is also discontinued.
I haven’t been able to find any indication of it being discontinued (BD Nano 2nd Gen), can you provide a reference? I read a recent article of it being #2 and the Novofine also ref’s in another post here as #1 in a study of T1s.
@Leol Welcome Leo!. One thing to watch out for on this and similar forums is the age of each post. You found one from last year.
It also happens to be bad info, I last got BD Nano Gen 2 pen needles in September 2023. The lesson here is people working in pharmacies and DME companies often say things that can’t be taken literally. The person Emily spoke to said “the product is discontinued” but meant “we are discontinuing carrying this product”. BD did spin off their diabetes products business a couple years ago. At some point the branding and maybe the product numbers will change. Keep an eye out for Embecta.
The NovoFine Plus 32Gx4mm is still my favorite. It still doesn’t make sense to me that they can make the 6mm version but not the 4mm.
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Thanks, @spdif for the reporting of what probably actually occurred. Seemed odd that BD would discontinue a product that seems excellent and logically designed. I’ve been using the BD product since diagnosis 2 years ago. I found others prescribed (generic branded 4mm’s) didn’t compare well when on MDI. I know have a supply that should last another couple of years with me using them on flexpens to fill my Dash pods and as a back up for MDI if/when needed. If needed, perhaps I’ll try to Novofine’s.
If worst comes to worst, you could try re-using your needles until you find one you like. There was a post on the topic a while back (I’ll try to find it later) but people do use them repeatedly. Of course everyone needs to decide for themselves if they are comfortable with their resistance to infection.
I realized the big mail order place I buy from may have just been working their way through a pallet of pen needles so I asked at my local pharmacy today. They looked up both and the BD Nano Gen2 32Gx4mm is available. The NovoFine Plus 32Gx4mm is still MIA.
Thansk, I agree.
This from aunrccc@novonordisk.com:
On 10/18/2023 21:22, aunrccc wrote:
Dear David,
Thank you for contacting Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd regarding supply shortage of NOVOFINE® Plus 4mm needles.
Novo Nordisk is experiencing a supply shortage of NOVOFINE® Plus 4mm needles, due to a quality defect.
Consequently, we have decided to temporarily stop the production of NOVOFINE® Plus 32G (gauge) 4mm100 pcs needles
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High five for getting a response in writing from Novo Nordisk!
Another bit of info received from a pharmacy in Australia on 09-03-2023:
Thank you for contacting Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd.
Novo Nordisk has decided to temporarily stop production of 100pcs NovoFine® Plus 32G (gauge) 4mm needle packs, due to a quality defect, which we expect will last until Q4 2023.
Other needle lengths are not affected as they are manufactured at different sites.
We expect supplies of 100pcs NovoFine® Plus 4mm to be normalised during Q4 2023.