The use of polymers in medical devices is growing at a steady rate. These materials are generally relatively cheap and versatile, qualities required in many bulk applications. In more specialised medical devices, polymeric components have been developed to meet challenging property and performance requirements. This review describes the process of developing polymeric products for medical applications from design requirements through to specific examples of medical devices and packaging. An additional indexed section containing several hundred abstracts from the Rapra Polymer Library database gives useful references for further reading.