A Smart Pillbox To Improve Medication Compliance 145
Roland Piquepaille writes "A major challenge in public health is that people do not take their medications, a phenomenon known as 'medication non-adherence.' In the US alone, it is estimated that this accounts for 10% of all hospital visits and costs the healthcare system $100 billion per year and $60 billion to the pharmaceutical industry. Now, an MIT research team thinks it has a solution to this problem that will save lives worldwide. They've developed the uBox, a convenient, palm-sized, intelligent pill dispenser, 'which reminds a patient when it is time to take his medication, records when a patient has taken a dose, and prevents a patient from double-dosing.' The first large-scale trial with 100 uBoxes is scheduled to begin in May in Bihar, India, in a 6-month long tuberculosis treatment program."
And How Does The Pillbox Know... (Score:5, Insightful)
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The virus is still multiplying and trying to do its thing, but the antibiotics are keeping it down below the threshold that my body can tolerate.
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Jim
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Thanks for the "think positive" suggestion. That's nicely uplifting!
Jim
Re:And How Does The Pillbox Know... Wrong pills. (Score:1)
You are a bit confused, it would be better to skip the regime entirely, since antibiotics attack bacteria and are ineffective against viruses. What I think you meant, was that a bacterial infection is unusually comprised of differing populations. Those killed off by a partial dose leaves only the most resistant to grow unimpeded by the presence of the usually more rapid growing, but less resistant strains. Partial dosage cultivates those resistant bacteria (not viruses). Meaning these cells have a diff
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Any halfway decent doctor will also tell the patient that they need to completely follow the instructions given them along with whatever prescription they are taking. If someone disregards their doctor's medic
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I foresee a silly objection, so I'll say that this entire question obviously wouldn't apply in the case of people who cannot be expected to follow instructions (say, an Alzheimer's patient) and other arrangements would have to be made.
Although I broadly agree with you, there are an awful lot of people who find it difficult to comply properly with their meds, not just Alzheimer's patients. Particularly older people, who are taking maybe ten or so different meds, all from identical looking bottles with badly printed labels, with pills that can also look very much alike. So you've got the weekly pill that if taken daily will kill you next to the five times per day pill, and you have to be some kind of pharmacist to tell them apart. Com
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- one-third of people will take it correctly
- one-third of people will try and take it correctly, but will get it wrong
- one-third of people won't even try to take it correctly (e.g. not finish a course, not pick up the prescription)
I am sure the numbers are not so round but this was the repeated teaching at medical school and beyond.
As you say, unnecessary prescribing is a pain in the arse too. Often it is d
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If you stop
Re:And How Does The Pillbox Know... (Score:5, Funny)
Unicorns (Score:1)
A Smart box (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:And How Does The Pillbox Know... (Score:5, Insightful)
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I would buy one of these devices in an instant if it handled inhaled meds.
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Non-compliance with a condition is grounds for exclusion of coverage with most insurances. You can not take the pills all you like, but if it jibbers you up you're paying the bills.
I'd say thats a bit of motivation, although a problem is sleazier insurances will avoid mentioning this fact when people mention "oh my doctor has me on this, but I don't take it".
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I'd be interested in statistics on this matter... I know one — otherwise meticulous — elderly woman, who only takes the prescribed medicines, when she has acute pain (the prescription is for regular use). I have heard of others...
I'm sure, some people just forget (especially, if they are on anti-memory loss medication, ha-ha), but I'm not at all certain, they represent the vast majority of "nonad
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I'm afraid, it is not going to help people like your mother. The device will nag, she will take the pill out and put it on the counter to take "later". Then you'll show up and, in order to not anger you, she will either hide the pill(s) or direct
THX-1138 is here! (Score:2)
There have been proposals for criminal control outside prisons through the use of mood altering drugs. Fun shit like Thorazine that reduces your atention span to less than the guy in Memento, so basically you can't get in to mischief because you'll get completely bored an move on before any harm happens.
The sick part of these proposals were to use RFID labeled pills, so that a relative simple compliance monitoring device
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And how does the pillbox know that you actually took the pill, as opposed to taking it out of the pillbox so that it will quit nagging you?
And how does it know that the pill you just took out didn't fall in the sewer and that you need another one right now?
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Lots of people stop taking their meds because they don't like the side effects (but can't be bothered to mention it to their doctor because after all they don't feel so bad from their original condition when they are of
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uhh (Score:1)
It wont stop you from throwing the tab away (Score:2)
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A law requiring you to do what's best for you, after you have paid insurance exactly for that purpose. Why is it that this law doesn't seem such a bad thing?
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Why is it that you can't see what's wrong with that scenario?
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Because we don't know what is best. MDs are hardly infallible, can't always be on the spot, and are under enormous pressure to overmedicate. Sell more pills that way, and keeps them covered in case of a lawsuit. We still have much to learn about medication. For instance, grapefruit magnifies the power of a great deal of medicine. It is quite possible for half the dosage with grapefruit to be as good as a full dose without.
I'm wondering if the pharmaceutical industry's "losses" are because people aren
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OK, I see your point, and the two others who answered my post. But then, why pay insurance? If you think grapefruit will make you well, good for you, but why do you have to pay an insurance company to eat grapefruit?
If you are paying an insurance company to get medical treatment, they *will* give you the treatment you paid for. However, if you prefer some "alternative" form of treatment, then why the f**k do you need an insurance company?
Well, yo
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While yes, as you as and as nephew post (above) explains, grapefruit and its juice potentiates the effects of some medicines, what you propose in your second sentence is dangerous. Medicine dosages are quantified, milligrams, one tablet, half a tablet for example and there is an expected result. Grapefruit and its juice, however, is not qui
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1. Some doctors are complete idiots. I've had one doctor who'd only met me for the first time suggest stomach stapling in the first 10 minutes of the visit for high blood pressure (I wasn't on blood pressure meds and he didn't suggest them until i brought up the possibility. Apparently if you're overweight he thinks a stomach stapling is better than blo
Why uBox? (Score:3, Funny)
Good (Score:1, Redundant)
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Costs ? (Score:2, Insightful)
Did they want to say brings ?
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Did they want to say brings ?
No, they mean costs. Did you really think that pharmaceutical companies could make profit off healing and saving people? Of course not, but they do it anyways, because if they weren't there, then who would make all these medicines for us? That's right, they do it all because they care about us and they want us to be alive and well, even if it's going to cost them hundreds of billion dollars every year.
Think about it next time you consider buying Pfizer stock [google.com].
Re:Costs ? (Score:5, Insightful)
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The cost being talked about could largely be opportunity cost, as the people who aren't taking their doses of well-established, off-patent, one-dollar-per-dose medications will many times need a ne
100 billion? Really? Just take your meds. (Score:1)
In response to:
it is estimated that this accounts for 10% of all hospital visits and costs the healthcare system $100 billion per year and $60 billion to the pharmaceutical industry
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Usually not, and in any case it can be a long time before anybody realises what the problem actually is, by which time damage may have been done. Also over medicating, or taking pills at the wrong frequency is also a major problem that this thing is trying to address.
Having said that, I don't think a hi-tech solution like this is a necessary answer for most people. We'd go a long way towards preventing these problems simply by printing readable labels on med boxes that are easily distinguishable for peo
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I wonder if they used the logic that 10% of hospital visits = 10% of the healthcare industry, because wouldn't that be neglecting the nature of the visits? I would assume that the 10% of hospital visits resulting from forgetting to take pills would have a greater chance of being taken care of fairly easily... Like, "ok here are your meds and a cup of water". Sure, some problems will be more serious, but still.
You can't be serious. many medications have dire consequences if missed.
Forgot your heart med
I'd love something that works (Score:4, Insightful)
Here's a thought -- outsource it (Score:2)
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You're welcome.
Soon.. (Score:1)
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Oh the irony.
Probably Third-World Only (Score:3, Insightful)
Doubtful (Score:2)
If your logic held true, we wouldn't have electronic blood sugar meters either.
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I feel bad saying it (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I feel bad saying it (Score:4, Insightful)
And even if we stipulate that certain people don't "deserve" treatment, does that mean that the rest of us deserve the antibiotic-resistant strains of TB that result from people missing their doses?
-Peter
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so the only way to really measure compliance here is to do a urine check every few days while on the 'scrip - and assign people ratings based on their historical compliance and base treatment in the future on stats
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That's one of the populations that researchers are trying to help with this device. There are a large number of elderly out there who are suffering from mild to moderate dementia and neurological problems. Current practice is to check up on them on a frequent basis and remind them verbally to take their medications. An automated reminder system would help this system considerably.
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Preventing double-dosing (Score:1)
I like that it can prevent double-dosing. Not only do some forgetful folks miss a dose, they sometimes take that dose multiple times because they believe, each time, that this is there first dose.
And this is better how? (Score:3, Insightful)
If we cant make it an 'i-something or other' and give it an IP address its of no value? Sure, technology has its place, but sometimes just common sense is all that is needed. When a hammer is all you need, bring a hammer, don't re-invent it just for the sake of inventing.
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1. First, SHE is the one that has to fill them, and with so many different meds it's easy for her to make
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My Dad, age 87, who can no longer read his pill bottles, would still kick your punk ass.
Somebody please mod this jerk down.
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*IF* your dad is still capable of "kicking my punk ass" ( which i honestly doubt, since you would be incapable as well. You know, its its nice to be loyal to family, it can also be misplaced ) then he wouldnt be considered a liability would he?
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There are probably a zillion different solutions if you personally want to make certain you take pills when you should in the proper quantity.
But this is meant less to be an electronic counterpart to a pillbox, and more an electronic counterpart to a conscientious mother.
Already exists (Score:5, Informative)
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If this is all they're doing at MIT these days all I can say is that in my days....
Doesn't Solve The Other Problem (Score:2)
Memory is not the problem. (Score:5, Insightful)
This mentality is a lot more prevalent than I would have thought prior to working in travel medical insurances. The number of people who would get angry because we had to count them as treating a condition because they had a specific prescription on their history but they refused to take it was staggering. Somehow, it then becomes our fault that they have an exclusion because they were not complying with the prescribed treatment.
To get Dickens on it: Given that non-compliance is generating these costs, i'm guessing its also generating casualties, which means the tendancy will eventually be minimized across the gene pool.
Wish that helped my generations health costs though.
Protips: If you disagree with your doctor, that is what second, third,
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My apologies to the grammarstapo.
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Great, too bad it's illegal (Score:5, Insightful)
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How come you people don't break out in derisive laughter when you hear your country described as the "land of the free"?
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Most such expressions don't happen near Free Speech Zones, so laughing at them would be illegal.
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Every pol
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In Florida a man was given the minimum sentence of 25 years for having 56 viccodin, of the 80 he was prescribed, in a valid bottle. Because, in Florida at least, any more than 50 is automatic guilt in drug trafficking. Having a valid prescription is not an exception, and the defense attorney was not permitted to even mention his valid prescription to the jury. The judge ruled that since the law does not mention prescriptions, that knowledge would be distracting and irrelevant. As a convicted drug traff
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quantity of dispensed medicine
name of the medicine
strength of medicine
instructions: how to take it, how many to take and how frequently
name of the patient
Those pill organisers you can purchase really are not adequate and they encourage patients to redispense medicines which is a bad thing because there is no quality
Yet another alarm clock? (Score:1)
A technological solution to a behavioral problem? (Score:3, Insightful)
The batteries will never run out, the thing will never be badly programmed, the patient will never ignore it, nor forget it, and the workers checking up on them will always be diligent and honest. That's why it's gonna work!
Fantastic device will be misused (Score:2)
"I'm sorry Mr Jones but we can't supply you with more blood pressure medication. It says right here you missed a dose 3 months ago. Now what's the point of giving it to you if you won't take it? Next!"
What about the cost of adherence? (Score:2)
I assume the latter is not the least concern.
Some quack must have been watching TV and recently put my mother on Vytorin. Pick your favorite Google result on how worthless that drug is.
mod parent up (Score:2)
During my pharmacy study I received the weekly dutch magazine for pharmacists. A professor from my university had a column where he reevaluated case studies from random patients. He studied the pattern of drugs prescribed, knew the illnesses for which these are normally described, found that a lot of drugs were described against side-effects of previous drugs, and in most cases concluded that the 10+ drugs weekly should be replaced by nor
Already been done (Score:1)
militarised medicalism (Score:2, Interesting)
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Other uses... (Score:1)
I'd use this. (Score:3, Insightful)
Anyhow. Yeah. I'd actually use this.
Sometimes, it's not about you (Score:1)
Missing a tag (Score:1)
Sorry - No dice (Score:2)
The patent landscape is littered with numerous attempts to solve the problem of patient compliance with self-administered, even back to the 1960s. They all rely on a similar solution to this one - an intelligent alarm, an internal counter, and some form of interface for either the physician or the patient.
The problems my product was try
Lies, Damned Lies, and Doctors (Score:1)
It's communication skills, stupid (Score:1)
With increasing patient loads, and consequentially reduced consultation times, doctors often don't take enough time to explain why the patient needs to take the medicine, how to take it, and how often. Also, by appearing to be rushed/stressed, doctors don't give patients the opportunity to ask questions
I for one... (Score:2)
Say what you will... (Score:3, Insightful)
God forbid this is ever manditory for narcotics... (Score:2)
The MD isn't God nor is Pharma (Score:2)
Pharma spends a lot of money to get MDs to prescribe their latest and most profitable, and it works. The patient is on his own when deciding to keep on taking his meds. In this instance, Google is indeed your best friend.
I am not referring to the use of antibiotics, but to the myriad meds for
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