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Comment by gameswithgo | Hacker News Reader

There are at least two other products on the market and they are easy to use. Just quit buying epi pens. Tell your doctor/school you won't be using it and deal with it.

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What are some other alternatives? "Just quitting" EpiPens would be awesome if there were some known alternatives for those who need them to live.

Not to be rude, but in the time it took you to write this comment you could've just typed "epipen alternatives" into Google.

The school may not want to accept that...

Whatever medicine I give the school to administer to my child at the appropriate times has to be observed; the school cannot wantonly withhold the medications I provide them, especially when provided a Dr's note.

If I send my child to school with an "off-brand" epipen with a doctor's note and direct the school to use this instead, they have to observe it -- a nurse is in no way capable of making a drug administration decision without the consult of a licensed medical doctor.

But what if they fuck it up and your kids dies? That's the (not totally irrational) fear - parents want the nurse using something they are already familiar with.

Or they fuck up, prick themselves with epinephrine, and die (or at least not have a very good time).

If the school nurse is that incompetent you have bigger problem

I don’t think an incompetent school nurse would be a bigger problem to me than my child dying.

The bigger problem is how many other children receive substandard care.

In England the protected title is "Registered General Nurse" or "Registered Mental Health Nurse" - a registered nurse is qualified to a certain standard and has a professional registration.

Nurse isn't a protected title, so it's possible a school nurse has minimal qualification and no professional registration.

I dunno if it's similar in the US.

I had an EpiPen and various other stuff when I was in 5th grade. I was taught to use it. If a nurse is incapable of administering it properly that person needs to find a new line of work.

It honestly is a completely irrational fear.

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