Have others here read the article about the creation of a digital pill (in this case Abilify) which will be a medication embedded with a sensor that can tell doctors (and up to four others) whether, and when, patients take their medicine?

More description in the NY Times read:

"The sensor, containing copper, magnesium and silicon (safe ingredients found in foods), generates an electrical signal when splashed by stomach fluid, like a potato battery, said Andrew Thompson, Proteus’s president and chief executive.

After several minutes, the signal is detected by a Band-Aid-like patch that must be worn on the left rib cage and replaced after seven days, said Andrew Wright, Otsuka America’s vice president for digital medicine.
The patch sends the date and time of pill ingestion and the patient’s activity level via Bluetooth to a cellphone app. The app allows patients to add their mood and the hours they have rested, then transmits the information to a database that physicians and others who have patients’ permission can access."

If interested in the full NY Times article visit https://www.nytimes.com/2017/ 11/13/health/digital-pill- fda.html


What do you think about this?

[emgreen]

Sounds like a heck of a way to track taking your meds! I'd rather establish a med routine, not taking a pill infused with copper! Thanks for the article.

[Sunflower123]

It sounds like a great innovation with practical applications that will continue to grow. I was thinking right off of those whose medication compliance might be court mandated. Thank you for sharing the article.

Hi Jennifer. I was also thinking about those with court mandated medication compliance, but also even about other patients that are just cavalier about taking meds or may have otherwise lied to their family and doctors about taking them. In the latter cases, I know they are not required to take medications, but any potential lying could be an issue. So many spouses of people with bipolar disorder would really want to know if their spouse went off the meds. Maybe doctors would want to know if a bipolar patient went off Abilify so that they wouldn't prescribe a stimulant in those cases.

[emgreen]

Those are good applications I hadn't thought of. Thanks, BirdDancer & Jennifer. I was looking at it from a pretty narrow perspective.

I don't think it necessarily increases med compliance, just monitors it. Which might stimulate someone to be more compliant, but not necessarily.

Something about the idea is very off putting to me. It's one step in a direction I don't know if I like to think about. Non-compliance or not, I find that creepy.

[dshantel]

I'm with Brentus on this one. I don't like the idea of an imbedded devise. Maybe it's paranioa but no thank you.

[Moose72]

I add my vote to dshantel and Brentus: No, for me. They already write down things I say and do.

[Victoria'smom]

I would refuse to take that.

[rwwff]

I like the idea of embedded devices in general but the patch expiration of 7 days seems more problematic than daily pills or monthly shots, so I dunno. Wonder why it only runs for 7 days? Just seems like it would increase hassle in a way that's easy to forget and thus end up non-compliant in just a different way.

Perhaps they will take some of the energy they used to create this and develop better meds with less side effects. I guess there can be practical uses for this but the whole psychiatric system needs to be burnt to the ground and built back up using a much different model than is currently be used.

[scatterbrained04]

I don't think I'd support something like that.

I wouldn't use it. I already admit to being non-compliant anyways. I know when I skip/forget my meds and I tell that to my doctors. Plus, most of your doctors really don't care as much as you'd think. They'd probably ignore it. lol.

Sounds too invasive and more trouble than what it's worth.

[raspberrytorte]

I'm court mandated to take meds. I wouldn't take that. It's not right to force someone to take meds, no matter how ****ed up they may be.

[raspberrytorte]

Not to mention not every court mandated person is non compliant. I'm not non compliant. It's unfair to assume that everyone who is court mandated is non compliant. This thread is really pissing me off. I need to leave!

Originally Posted by raspberrytorte

Not to mention not every court mandated person is non compliant. I'm not non compliant. It's unfair to assume that everyone who is court mandated is non compliant. This thread is really pissing me off. I need to leave!

I agreep

I think doctors need to trust their patients, at least a little if they don't want to put in full trust. If they lump every court mandated person into one group and automatically label them as "non-compliant", then we have a serious problem with the way we approach medicine in general.

We can't assume the worst of people and force things like this on them. I don't even know if I would trust it. People say lie detectors "generally work", but they don't always work. Sometimes they label people as liars who really aren't liars. So now we're at risk for throwing false negatives with this pill thing . Imagine if we fully trusted its readings?

[Wonderfalls]

I see it more as a tool for parents and doctors of young "newly" schizophrenic patients who don't believe they need the medications for a number of reasons. I recently finished reading two different nonfiction books in which the parents found out too late that the kids only pretended to take their prescribed meds. (Tucking it into their cheeks for instance and then spitting it out.) When the inevitable crisis hit there was great and sometimes irreparable damage. One kid hanged himself.

Originally Posted by Wonderfalls

I see it more as a tool for parents and doctors of young "newly" schizophrenic patients who don't believe they need the medications for a number of reasons. I recently finished reading two different nonfiction books in which the parents found out too late that the kids only pretended to take their prescribed meds. (Tucking it into their cheeks for instance and then spitting it out.) When the inevitable crisis hit there was great and sometimes irreparable damage. One kid hanged himself.

Some people with schizophrenia already believe that their medicine is poisoning them, or that the government is implanting chips in them to control their brain. Given this non-conventional medicine compliance approach, I think it'd probably worsen their fears. And while I see your concern about suicide, I want to say that the pill itself could lead to suicide because their worst nightmare about government implants to control their brain "is coming true".

The better thing to do is provide therapy and work through the problems, even if it means they have to go to therapy daily. That digital pill is just a bandaid, and a very poor one. It doesn't help people overcome their problemss, and as I said, it's probably not 100% accurate anyway.

I posted this thread because I found the news item to be interesting or at least thought others would maybe want to know what medication research is happening. I am not for or against, necessarily. It's just a news item notice.

[tecomsin]

I am totally against forced medication. To me it's a fundamental violation of human rights to force someone to take a substance against their will. It is one thing to lock someone up, and quite another, to inject them with mind altering drugs. It takes away their dignity as a human being.

I realize there will always be those examples one can point to and say, well a life might have been saved, but there is also all the hidden suffering of people who are pawns of the state and dont' have the right to decide what goes into their bodies and what does not.

I do think it has potential for people who don't remember whether they've taken their meds. They might even combine it with an alarm app of some sort that sends an alarm if you haven't taken your meds by some time (e.g. you need to take them at 8 am and it'll send an alarm if you haven't taken them by 9)

[WildcatVet]

It was developed primarily as a patient reminder...
https://www.drugs.com/newdrugs/fda-a...eir+Medication

[zbmom]

Sounds creepy to me. I don't want to be monitored. Big brother, ugh!

[Wonderfalls]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

Some people with schizophrenia already believe that their medicine is poisoning them, or that the government is implanting chips in them to control their brain. Given this non-conventional medicine compliance approach, I think it'd probably worsen their fears. And while I see your concern about suicide, I want to say that the pill itself could lead to suicide because their worst nightmare about government implants to control their brain "is coming true".

The better thing to do is provide therapy and work through the problems, even if it means they have to go to therapy daily. That digital pill is just a bandaid, and a very poor one. It doesn't help people overcome their problemss, and as I said, it's probably not 100% accurate anyway.

Therapy, even every day, is not enough to combat schizophrenia. It's true that during an episode paranoia can cause them to think they're being poisoned or even that there is a chip implanted in their head, which is kind of right. The idea is to prevent an episode though and that takes drugs, unfortunately which have to be actually used.