Pharmaceuticals Anonymous

Friday, March 21, 2008

Salon: Doctors Without Orders

brain0405agy1

Now they want to put dog tags on us to monitor when we take our meds. What next?

Doctors Without Orders
THE MYSTERY OF PATIENTS WHO FAIL TO FOLLOW PRESCRIPTIONS.
By Jessica Wapner
Posted Friday, March 21, 2008, at 10:21 AM ET

Many patients do not take medicine as prescribed
Earlier this month, scientists at Georgia Tech announced their invention of a necklace that records the date and time at which a person swallows his prescription medicine. The device (which looks more like a dog collar than jewelry) responds to a tiny magnet in the pill as it travels down the esophagus. Other recently developed similar technologies include a drug-filled prosthetic tooth that slowly drips medicine into the mouth and a pill bottle that sends a wireless message to your pharmacist every time it's opened.
Are we so bad at taking medicine that we need false teeth to do it for us and pill bottles that tattle on us when we don't?