Patent ID: 6896670

Claim:
A method of administering a medicament to a patient, the method comprising: providing an injection device for injecting a medicament parenterally into a mammal, the device including a main body member, a hollow needle affixed to the main body member, a plunger being slidably positioned in the main body member, a rod within the needle, the rod extending through the main body member and the rod being affixed to the plunger, and a hollow sleeve that covers the needle prior to injection, the sleeve being slidably positioned in the main body member, and wherein when the device is pressed against skin of a mammal the sleeve retracts into the main body member thereby exposing the needle and allowing the needle to penetrate the skin of the mammal, wherein when the plunger is pushed into the main body member, the plunger contacts and forces the sleeve out of the main body member thereby withdrawing the needle from the mammal, and wherein the plunger and rod are operative to push the medicament through the needle into the mammal as the needle is being withdrawn from the mammal; depressing the device against the skin of the mammal, to thereby allow the sleeve to retract into the main body member and the needle to penetrate the skin of the mammal; and depressing the plunger, thereby forcing the medicament through the skin, to thereby administer the medicament to the mammal.