"Convenience and necessity. Drug companies cater to their clients' preferences. Adults prefer popping pills, so most medicines for adults come in small capsules. Kids, by contrast, often dislike swallowing tablets, so companies manufacture liquid alternatives. But not every drug can be taken any which way. It's better to take certain cancer medications—like the red-blood-cell booster Epogen—intravenously rather than via intramuscular injection, since the drugs may irritate tissue. Proteins such as human growth hormone or insulin can't be taken orally, since the stomach's acids and digestive enzymes would break these down as if they were food. Other drugs have to be taken orally. For example, if you're trying to treat a gastrointestinal issue like ulcerative colitis, you're going to want a pill rather than an ointment or an IV drip."
Up Your Nose or Down Your Throat?
by Christopher Beam
http://www.slate.com/id/2231174/
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