A pen needle assembly apparatus includes a housing (30), a movable gripping assembly (32) for gripping a pen needle assembly (18), and an actuator (108). The housing (30) has a top end (34), a bottom end (36), and an inner cavity (38) for storing used pen needle assemblies. The gripping assembly (32) in one embodiment includes two movable jaws (58) that are movable to engage and grip the outer cover (22) of the pen needle assembly (18) so that the needle hub (16) can be separated from the outer cover (22) and placed back in the outer cover (22) after use of the pen needle. The actuator (108) is connected to the jaws (58) where movement of the actuator separates the jaws to release the outer cover of the pen needle assembly. The housing (30) has an opening 160) for engaging the inner shield (24) of the pen needle assembly to remove the inner shield (24) from the needle hub (16).
