By Christine Wiebe, AMNews correspondent.
Patients hate needles.
It might be easy for physicians to dismiss this fact except that patients' aversion to needles can create extra work for doctors, compromise care and undermine public health. Studies show, for instance, that diabetics don' t monitor their blood glucose level or take their insulin as often as they should because of their aversion to needlesticks. Meanwhile, people refuse flu shots. And kids don't get vaccinated or tested for lead. Now it appears that a virtually needleless future may be plausible.