My first exposure to administering drugs into the body using an adhesive patch (rather than a pill or a shot) was back in the early 1990’s when my son was very sick. He needed help with pain killers and his body couldn’t tolerate any more more abuse of his digestive tract. So he was prescribed a state-of-the-art pain patch. It looked like a large square band aid that you peeled off a backing and stuck onto your arm or shoulder area. The medicine is absorbed through the skin instead of through the stomach.

Now they have patches for many different types of medicines and many types of conditions, from anti-smoking to birth control to motion sickness. This is one of the great but mostly unheralded advances of modern medicine. It made a tremendous difference in the care and quality of life of my son and I know it has helped millions since then.