As always, the focus of new injection devices is on less pain and more comfort. The cost-conscious consumer, however, wants durable products that deliver the least pain at the lowest cost. Often, it is hard for manufacturers to meet all these conditions. On the whole, the 57 respondents who replied to our survey on injection devices preferred to stick with the products they were most familiar with. For many people who are uninsured or living on a fixed income, cost and durability may be more important than comfort.
Cost is one of the major reasons why many insulin users re-use their syringes.
Perhaps to buck this entrenched consumer trend, B-D recently featured ads that emphasized the importance of using syringes only once. Of this group, satisfied B-D customers far outnumbered unhappy ones. III Short 31-gauge needles are the thinnest in the world. These have received favorable reviews from two parents on our survey who have insulin-dependent children. They said the short needles are not as menacing as the longer ones and injections can be done more discreetly in public.