An engineer, in the 1960s Kaplan was hired at Survival Technology Inc. in Bethesda, Md., where he worked on projects for the military. At the time, the strategic worry was “nerve gas” — chemical warfare — and Kaplan was assigned the task of creating a way for a soldier to inject an antidote quickly. The result was the “ComboPen”, an auto-injector syringe that could get life-saving medication into the bloodstream quickly to save soldiers’ lives.
That’s great, but Kaplan realized that it could have a life-saving civilian use, too. In the 1970s he switched out the nerve gas antidote for epinephrine, which is used to treat anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reactions. Just about any organic substance can trigger anaphylaxis in sensitive people, but common life-threatening allergies include bee and other insect stings, and foods like peanuts and eggs. The “EpiPen” is now carried by hundreds of thousands of people with allergies — and on ambulances.
And because Kaplan developed it while working for another company, he didn’t get rich or famous because of his invention. “And I don’t think he would’ve liked to be,” said his son, Michael, who noted the EpiPen saved the life of a close friend — and his mother-in-law. Kaplan left the company soon after developing the EpiPen, but spent the rest of his career designing medical equipment. He died at home in Clearwater, Fla., on September 21 from Hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer. He was 70.