The folded sheet in the carton is the actual procedure for your device. The five things to find in it, and how to check it is current.
Key points
- 01There are two documents, and you want the one with pictures. The prescribing information or patient leaflet describes the medicine, and the instructions for use describe the device. The illustrated panels are the procedure your pen was actually approved with, and they are the reference every technique page on this site defers to when the two disagree.
- 02Five things to locate before dose one. The storage block, the numbered step sequence, the dose-window or counter diagram, the list of reasons not to use the device, and the manufacturer contact number. Mark or photograph those five and you have covered most of what people later search for at midnight.
- 03The panels are a specification, not decoration. Each illustration is one action in one order, including the ones that look trivial, such as which cap comes off when and how long to hold. Where a video, a forum post and the leaflet disagree, the leaflet is the document that was reviewed by a regulator alongside the device in your hand.
- 04The storage block is the part most often misread. It carries three separate numbers: the refrigerated range, how many days the device may spend at room temperature once in use, and the conditions that mean discard. People remember one of the three and improvise the other two, which is how a usable pen gets binned and an unusable one gets injected.
- 05Check the revision date, because leaflets change. Devices and labels are updated, and a printout saved two years ago may no longer match the box. Look for the revision date on the sheet, and when in doubt, look up the current version for your product on DailyMed rather than on a search result of unknown age.
- 06Keep it with the device, not in the recycling. The leaflet is the one document you will want at the exact moment you cannot look for it, and it carries the complaint number for a failed device. Fold it into the box or photograph both sides, and our post on returning a defective pen explains what that number is for.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the leaflet and the instructions for use?+
The patient leaflet or prescribing information describes the medicine, and the instructions for use describe how to operate the device, panel by panel. For technique questions you want the second one. Not medical advice.
I threw the box away. Where do I find it?+
The manufacturer publishes it, and DailyMed carries current prescribing information and instructions for use for products marketed in the US. Your pharmacy can also print a copy.
The leaflet and a video disagree. Which do I follow?+
The leaflet. It is the document reviewed alongside your specific device, and videos frequently show a different generation of the same pen or a different product entirely.
How do I know my leaflet is current?+
Check the revision date printed on it against the version the manufacturer or DailyMed publishes today. Labels are updated, and an old printout is the quiet source of a lot of outdated advice.