• I HAVE been taking Tresiba degludec as my long-acting insulin for some years.

But over the last two or three months most Type 1 diabetics have been taken off this due to what we were told was “a scarcity of Tresiba”.

The Whittington Hospital rationed each patient to one pen’s worth of Tresiba. This took diabetic specialist nurses hours of extra work; but neither our brilliant specialist nurses, nor nurses, nor Diabetes UK, were able to explain the cause of this scarcity.

I am now angry to discover our precious insulin, which keeps us alive and functioning, is being bought up privately by people who wish to lose weight.

And reportedly people are buying Tresiba degludec insulin – and other names – as a weight-loss drug, then suffering “side effects” like hypoglycemic attacks, vomiting, etc.

The Tory government has privatised so much of the National Health Service that privately buying drugs is starting to seem more acceptable.

I’ve been taking insulin for over 60 years. My working life was spent teaching in comprehensives and colleges. But I’ve also had to spend many off-duty hours since the 1980s campaigning to “Keep Our NHS Public”. My life depends on it!

JAN POLLOCK
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