Pregnant Passenger Says TSA Confiscated Her Insulin

The ever-vigilant Transportation Security Administration has kept the air safe from harmless fluids by confiscating a pregnant traveler’s insulin and ice packs as she tried to board a flight from Denver to Phoenix last week.

The mom-to-be says she was stopped by a TSA screener at the Denver airport and told that her medical items, for which she says she was carrying the appropriate doctor’s note, presented a potential danger.

“He’s like, ‘Well, you’re a risk.’ I’m like, ‘Excuse me?’ And he’s like, ‘This is a risk … I can’t tell you why again. But this is at risk for explosives,'” the woman told Denver’s 7NEWS about the incident. “I got a bottle of nail polish. I got hair spray bottles. I got needles that are syringes. But yet I can’t take through my actual insulin?”

Luckily, the TSA screeners didn’t do a thorough enough job of searching her luggage and a half vial of insulin made it onto the plane with the passenger, who had to have more insulin sent to her when she arrived in Arizona.

A rep for the TSA tells 7News a different version of events. “We talked to all of our people and they didn’t touch her insulin,” the rep explained, saying that the issue was the traveler’s ice packs, which were not allowed because they weren’t fully frozen. “I talked to the supervisor, who said she was upset. She calmed down and (said) she needed ice and (the TSA agent) told her how to get ice from the concourse and went on.”

Have any of our diabetic readers — or anyone who needs to travel with medication or equipment — experienced problems or delays when going through airport security? We’d love to hear your tips on how best to prepare for speeding through the checkpoint.

TSA Apologizes For Confiscating Pregnant Woman’s Insulin, Ice Packs [TheDenverChannel.com]

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