INSULIN PEN DEVICES

Abstract

In their recent article (Insulin delivery devices. J R Coll Physicians Edinb 2009; 39:l46-50) Dr Graveling and Dr McIntyre state that insulin pen devices were developed by Dr John Ireland in l98l.

The first pen device was actually designed jointly by John Paton of the Department of Clinical Physics and Bioengineering (DCP&B) in Glasgow, the late Dr John Ireland and myself.¹

After the initial trials with the prototype pen, further devices were made by the DCP&B, and then Hypoguard was licensed to produce the first commercial insulin pen with the royalties being paid to the Greater Glasgow Health Board (GGHB), which held the patent on our behalf.

Following this agreement, Michael Forsyth and other MPs tabled an Early Day Motion in the Commons congratulating John Paton, John Ireland and myself on our invention and on this example of co-operation between the NHS and private industry.² Later, the patent was sold to Novo by GGHB. None of the three inventors received any financial reward.

This letter is not in any way intended to minimise the contribution made by Dr John Ireland to this device, which is widely used today, but simply to set the record straight. I hope that this information will be of interest to readers of The Journal.