I really can't help but wonder
These rules have been in force since 9/11, all carriers and all airports (in the UK) have clearly given this advice since then.
How do i know? I am insulin dependant also and have carried a doctors letter since. Though TSA were confused by it last year as the operative wanted a copy of the prescription, only issued in the UK by doctors immediately before going to pharmacy. In the UK most security just wave me through - shock horror.
What confuses me though is that insulin is required to
lower blood sugar levels, the onset and effects of low blood sugar can be very quick and sudden (a hypo) and is related to insulin dosage, exercise, stress and lack of food intake. The opposite (a hyper) is slower to manifest itself and in the short term (certainly in my case) not a serious concern - in the longer term it is.
The symptoms are what I would expect to suffer in a hypo, the quick solution being sugar & carbohydrate. Insulin would only make it worse!
A big problem is in flight meals, I was advised strongly
not to order a "diabetic meal" being on insulin as they are low in carbohydrates and are more suitable for sufferers on diet & tablet treatment.
Airlines - note this!
As treatment of a Hypo is common infirst aid training it is even stranger, though it is likely that the situation would have been confused with the probably insistance of the situation re lack of insulin.
Wife is a RN and was a ward diabetic nurse for a time. She agrees with my take of this. It is also worth noting that some sufferers/travelling companions still haven't got the ins ad outs right in their heads.
As with most media reports there is probably more to this than printed