Dr Sheila Reith has received the Pride of Britain ceremony’s lifetime achievement award in recognition of her contribution to medicine. The idea for the insulin pen came to her as she was administering the drug to her daughter Fiona, a type 1 diabetic, in a train station bathroom. Reith realised that the equipment then used – a glass syringe with a steed needle which required regular sharpening – was primitive and the process medieval. The experience prompted her to consider alternative delivery methods.
Together with Dr John Ireland and Dr John Paton, Reith developed a design for an insulin pen capable of dispensing two insulin units if the button on the end was pressed. Within three years, Penject, the world’s first commercial insulin pen was launched. Since its release, the insulin pen has become a commonly used method of delivering insulin, making life easier for people with diabetes.
Reith was unable to attend the award ceremony in person, but her son Alistair collected the honour on her behalf. In a statement, Reith thanked her husband David and their children for their support, saying she was “wonderfully lucky” to have worked with talented colleagues. During the 1980s, she also developed a computer database of diabetic patients and launched a diabetes education centre promoting multidisciplinary care for people with the condition. She was awarded a CBE in 2023.
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, director of research at Diabetes UK, said that Reith’s idea and subsequent determination to bring the insulin pen to life had “changed the face of insulin therapy and diabetes care forever… benefiting too many people to count.
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