Innere Medizin


Insulin-Injektor n. PALMER

 

1955 jubelte die Presse:

"This May Revolutionise injections.
A Scots Diabetic has Invented a Painless "Gun.”
A Scotsman, Charles Palmer, 46-year-old factor of the Great Glen Cattle Ranch, Fort William, has invented a painless injector “gun” that already makes the old type of manual injection out of date. Diabetics, who rely on daily injections of insulin to keep them alive, can use this “gun” with one hand on almost any part of their body; the penetration depth of the needle can be adjusted; and it is completely painless.
I visited Mr. Palmer at his home on the Ranch, saw and experienced the gun in action. “Bare your arm,” he said. I did so. He pressed the “nozzle” against my flesh and I waited. “You ready?” he asked. “Yes,” I said, “Pull the trigger". He grinned. “The trigger’s pulled. You’ve had the needle in your arm for nearly half a minute.” To prove it, he withdrew one inch of needle out of my arm. It left a very tiny red dot. No pain-no sensation-nothing. The secret lies in the lightning speed of the needle. I asked Mr. Palmer how he came to think about the idea and he explained, “I became a diabetic six years ago. When I came out of hospital, I decided to stop worrying about the trouble and tackle it in a commonsense way. So I studied diabetics. I really got down to understanding what it is and conditioning myself to meet the situation so that I could live a normal, healthy life.” As he said this, looking at his healthy face and robust figure, I heartily agreed with his approach to the problem and felt that it had been very successful. He went on-‘‘I found that the one distasteful thing I could not get used to was the twice-daily injection of insulin. And when you have a trouble like this you meet many other people in the same boat. I found that most diabetics have the same aversion-with some it is a horror-of having to inject themselves every day. I came to dread my twice-daily dose. So I decided to do something about it. And the result of my ‘fiddling around’ is this gun.” The firm of McGregor and Alves, who co-operated in the original design, are manufacturing the gun at Hillington Industrial Estate; it is in stainless steel and costs E2 10s. Already demand is outpacing supply. Mrs. Palmer told me, “I am helping my husband by acting as ‘Sales-and-Despatch’ Manager. Some of the letters we get with orders are heart-rending-and Charles insists that these are given priority. One little Glasgow boy whose mother is a diabetic wrote saying he was saving to buy a gun as a present for her. So we sent oneas a present.” She showed me a letter from a Glasgow diabetic doctor who wrote his own glowing praises of this “boon to sufferers under the needle.” So it went on-letters pleading for guns, letters of thanks, letters of praise, The file was thick. Production of the invention is just getting into stride.
So far, over a thousand have been made and despatched to diabetics all over Britain. The gun has been given a preliminary blessing by the Department of Health who say that it will be included as a National Health Service prescription when a sufficient number of doctors demand it. Already the first N.H.S. prescription has been received by a chemist in Clydebank. War Office, too, have shown interest in the instrument-particularly with regard to the speeding-up of mass-injections. Mr. Palmer’s initial order with the makers is for 20,000 which, he says, “I’ll take and despatch in three months if I can get them.” R. W. we must congratulate Mr. Palmer upon his invention that must be of benefit to his fellow sufferers"
(The British Journal of Nursing, September 1955 S. 94).

 

Den authentischer Bericht eines Patienten hört man auf Internet: ein gew. Simon Lawson aus London, geboren 1945, bekam mit 16 Jahren erstmals seinen PALMER-injector (demnach um 1961) - damit endete der tägliche Zweikampf mit der Mutter, die ihm bis dahin die Spritzen setzen musste. Selbst Kinder konnten sich mit der neuen "Pistole" mühelos und vor allem angst- und schmerzlos selber pîeksen. Für Erwachsene aber erwies sich die Pistole als unhandlich. Insbesondere konnte sie nicht in die Hosentasche gesteckt und auf die Arbeit mitgenommen werden.

Lit.:
Haward, LR, The Palmer injector, in: Med.World, 1955 Jun;82(6):583-4.

 

Vorgestellt wird ein Original "The Palmer Injector Patent N°780008"
Palmer Injectors Ltd, Palmer Injector Kit, Model No. 1 for 1cc & 2cc', made by McGregor and Aves Ltd, Hillington, used for the injection of insulin or similar, Scotland. Hillington ist ein Vorort von Glasgow in Schottland.
Herkunft der Pistole: Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire G81 6LA United Kingdom.