EPI PEN SHORTAGE/halved prescription from 4 to 2..

[ohhereweareagain]

not only have i been told by about 14 chemists that there is a shortage of them in the country BUT i have just managed to get my yearly repeat prescription (for my daughter) but instead of there being 4 (2 for home & 2 for school) the prescription was only for 2. Apparently due to cut backs, new government guildelines 2 only.

I am having to pay out for a private gp appointment elsewhere in order to get an additional 2 for my daughter .

Anyone else come up against this or is it my gp surgery decision as opposed to one apparently not in their control?

No I haven’t heard anything about it.

So there is a shortage and you are only allowed two even if there wasn’t a shortage?

What about the other brands?

To be honest, I think it’s fair enough capping the number. Having more than you need is a convenience. A lot of dc take their pens to school every day and bring them home every night. So if you don’t want to do that you should have to pay for the extras.

As far as I know pharmacists can only claim for 2 per script. There is a national shortage - we're in Scotland and there has been for probably over a year. Not helpful though I know!

dd is 15 and has always (for years) had 4 since school age. not my decision but the gp & school. protocols set up for 2 at school & 2 at home. now she is older i get that technically she should be able to be responsible enough to carry 2 which can be brought home but this worries me as she is scatty and loses things plus her bag gets dumped around so would worry that they might get damaged as opposed to being safe in a medical centres cupboard. What about much younger children? i can't imagine most of them being responsible enough to have them in their school bags. dds schools have always had a medical centre that has kept all childrens medical stuff inc asthma. for now anyway dd will have an additional 2 that we will purchase (£80 for gp appointment & around £85 per epi pen). re epi pen shortages. i have driven regularly all over the place and come against blank faces when asking for epi pens. there are a few similar brands, one of which came highly recommended to me (emmerade) which one chemist said her preferred as the needle is longer and there is a little more solution inside. i don't know how they work though as trained on epi pen injectors but guess these work in the same way