TSA Agents Confiscate Pregnant Woman's Insulin

AOL Travel News:

TSA agents confiscated a pregnant woman's insulin at Denver International Airport, prompting her and her husband to file a formal complaint with the agency, reports ABC 7 News.

Read the whole story: AOL Travel News

Comments

[wilray]

05:04 AM on 08/09/2011

One thing that should be mentioned is how small a vial of insulin is. A vial of insulin is 10ml or 1/3 ounce. Typically you won't do more than 2 or 3 vials a month for each insulin, and you might take two types of insulin. So you will probably take less than 6 vials. That is a total of 2 ounces. Given the TSA guidelines that amount of liquid should not trigger an alarm, since you are allowed to take liquids in 3.4 ounce bottles.

However, insulin should not be a part of liquid limits since it is specifically exempted by TSA guidelines.

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/index.shtm

[Amock]

10:10 PM on 08/08/2011

ONE example out of how many folks they screen? We are making a Federal case out of ONE example yet these folks screen 1000's/day! Yet BofA, Chase scr*w 1000's a year and what - they get bonuses.

[European1919]

06:48 AM on 08/08/2011

I see the American take on the SS is getting stronger and more independent and more impudent by the day.

[AbstractImp]

10:48 PM on 08/07/2011

Like taking candy
from a Baby!

[valeskas]

09:49 AM on 08/07/2011

When I fly, I have a letter from my doctor, that I need the insulin.

[aliceandthecat]

08:28 PM on 08/07/2011

Shy should you need a letter specifying that....your name on the Rx label with a picture ID should do the trick...You and this unfortunate woman are being oppressed due to a medical condition...that seems to me to be wrong on a deeply moral level.........

[valeskas]

07:20 AM on 08/08/2011

We can thank the terrorists for that.

[1differentdrummer]

06:25 AM on 08/07/2011

What's wrong with those people? Looks like terminal stupidity to me.

[OdinsEye]

07:47 PM on 08/06/2011

The main thing to do if you run into a problem is to STAY CALM and DO NOT get into a heated argument. Regardless of if you are in the right or not, the situation is going to quickly go downhill if you get emotional or start getting argumentative. It also helps if you have prepared for just such an incident. I would recommend printing out any specific instructions from the TSA and airline websites.

Calmly ask for the supervisor on duty. If there is a prolonged problem, make sure you know what time and what checkpoint you were at. Do not start demanding people's names. Calmly ask the supervisor to provide a signed written explanation as to why they are taking the action -- tell them it is so you can make an insurance claim.

The more calm you remain, the better your chances for resolving the issue.

[wilray]

12:21 AM on 08/07/2011

If you are experiencing low blood sugar staying calm is lot easier said than done.

[OdinsEye]

12:29 AM on 08/07/2011

If you are experiencing low blood sugar, you should be correcting that problem.

[bryanzth]

11:57 AM on 08/08/2011

Wouldn't they confiscate the small container of orange juice, for that is what one drinks when experiencing LOW blood sugar. Insulin is to TREAT HIGH blood sugar!

Well, I dunno. My Mom was a diabetic, needed to test BGL, treat it and also measure blood pressure, etc. She no longer travelled by the time TSA became established.

Surely there must be a way to prepare for travelling with medical conditions? And if you are travelling with meds, devices and other supplies, shouldn't you wonder that the TSA agents (actually military or police wannabees that had to settle for low-wage security work) would not understand what these things were for? Once I travelled with an external HD for backups, and they couldn't understand why I needed that. I explained that my workplace required me to backup my files SECURELY and that device saved me from losing my job. That was that.

One must find teachable and learnable moments.

BZ.

[simzillyjp]

03:34 PM on 08/06/2011

Everyon knows the airlines does thigs like this. Yet people still buy tickets. If YOU buy plane ticket.......you deserve EVERYTHING you get.

[wilray]

01:19 PM on 08/08/2011

Actually, it's not the airlines that did this. It was the TSA.

[Ioan Lightoller]

08:47 PM on 08/08/2011

How arrogant. I don't fly myself, but many people fly as part of their job. How simple to judge someone when you are not in their shoes.

[pixiepotpie]

03:31 PM on 08/06/2011

I find it so interesting (and frightening) that the items they're so afraid of are the very things people would need to survive if a crash were to happen and they were fortunate enough to live through it.

[lilipilicious]

01:27 PM on 08/06/2011

Let's face it, terrorists have won. If their goal was to terrorize us and make us scared and disrupt life. then mission accomplished. That;'s what they wanted right? The TSA is completely ineffective. I travel a lot and i have throughout my travels seen so many security breaches. Someone who knows what they are doing is not going to be held back by the TSA asking you to say out loud your last name and confiscating beauty products and medication and harassing old ladies and toddlers (the TSA guy once asked all the toddlers in a group what their names are - now THAT's security - catching a toddler about to blow up a plane). Someone should sue the hell out of the TSA for the things they do. Half of it doesnt even make the news.

[LeftRight]

03:04 PM on 08/06/2011

My favorite was RIGHT after they banned liquids on the plane (another story about how useless THAT'S been!!) they had people pouring their water bottles into garbage cans at the security checkpoint..... All that it would have taken is a single pair of waterbottles one right after the other, one with bleach and one with ammonia, *BAM* everyone at that checkpoint is either very very ill or dead!

[Ioan Lightoller]

08:49 PM on 08/08/2011

Indeed. Sometimes the general intelligence of people working for the government...TSA...is so low it's frightening.

[SimianNation]

06:09 PM on 08/09/2011

There is so such a thing as a free lunch! It's called tax breaks for the wealthy and corporate minority.

[DuffyShort]

11:48 AM on 08/06/2011

How many of our leaders have gone through this crap. Do Bush Cheney or Clinton fly commercial...I don't think so...We are no safer with TSA than before, just more hassled...

[ThinkinPerson]

11:36 AM on 08/06/2011

True, a lot of people just don't report.

Just this week, while going to pick up a youth from the airport, renting a car to do so, while waiting in arrivals, one of the parking security guards approaches. Still new to the rental, I fumble to get the window down. I wanted to ask a question, but she says because of my 'attitude' she won't answer. Huh? I showed her my cane to explain why it was difficult for me to move quicker, and she said 'what are you going to hit me?'

I was shocked how quickly her mind went to 100. After I had drove around again, and picked up my passengers I tried to explain I had a rare condition and I was not trying to be purposefully a pain, and she was again rude, cutting me off saying 'if I didn't care about her (???) she didn't have to care about me.'

I found the experience to be extremely strange, rude, and frankly, left everyone in the car and on the sidewalk, a little perplexed.

If our airports are filled with people with tender egos, and strange interactive skills, perhaps we do need to pay a little more to have well paid workers charged with such important responsibility.

Many countries have tight security, so tight their personnel are able to manage public interaction.

[lilipilicious]

01:29 PM on 08/06/2011

were you in LA? or NY?

[ThinkinPerson]

09:41 PM on 08/07/2011

Neither, and it wasn't particularly busy. I just wanted to ask a question since I was picking up a minor.

[pixiepotpie]

03:38 PM on 08/06/2011

A shot of Logic. Nicely done. :)

[ThinkinPerson]

09:43 PM on 08/07/2011

tnk u! believe me, sometimes, logic can be harder for me to get to then I'd like to admit :)

[Tenley]

11:12 AM on 08/06/2011

Meanwhile no coverage of the airplane inspectors and air traffic controllers who are not being paid about a month before the 10th anniversary of 9/11 because Congress didn't pass a funding bill -- everyone please look in the other direction and let's demonize the little guy and pretend this massive safety issue isn't eclipsing it all.

[NC2NJ]

10:58 AM on 08/06/2011

You get what you pay for.

[Amock]

09:54 PM on 08/08/2011

TSA gets paid better then some Private Security Flunky think Private Security can do better?

[newsreaderx3]

10:41 AM on 08/06/2011

Sorry, folks. This is a bunch of garbage. The TSA reviewed the tapes (yes all TSA agents are on camera while working) and the insulin was not confiscated. The item that was taken was a gel pack that was not frozen. Of course, you won't see that reported anywhere here since it won't create any kind of negative response.

[KayDGee]

11:20 AM on 08/06/2011

Where did you see it?

[newsreaderx3]

01:22 PM on 08/06/2011

CNN.com.

[kareemachan]

12:23 PM on 08/06/2011

Citation?