FDA approves a pill that tells your doctor whether you've swallowed it or not

[waterloonie]

@PsiPhiGrrrl

That is a good point, but on second thought, this seems to add a lot of expense and effort. The elderly would need a combination of the special pill, the patch, the phone, and the app. On top of that, doctors (who tend to already be busy) would start getting alerts.

It’s probably quite pricy now. Give it 5 years and it’ll be a cheapo addon that is getting stuffed into every pill out there. Certainly every brand-name pill. Same thing with smartphones – and I’ll bet it’s only a matter of time before some variant of the app makes an appearance as part of MedMinder or LifeLine.

So, some digging later, the patch is huge. Proteus aren’t exactly giving much detail on how the system works, but I’m guessing the patch is serving as an external power source using induction. The sensor itself would probably be activated after coming in contact with stomach acids – which could, in theory, also serve as a way to power it. The sensor would be extremely low-power and low-range, hence the need for a patch in the first place.

I do have to wonder about whether the patch is waterproof and how often it needs to be removed. If it involves a daily routine of attaching and detaching, then I agree, it probably isn’t well-suited for elderly people afflicted by some degree of dementia. On the other hand if the patch can be worn for a week or a month at a time, and can be replaced or recharged during a regular visit by a caregiver, things become more feasible.

As far as the complexity of the communication chain, I think you’re sticking too closely to the proposed script. Absolutely, the message should go to the person best able to make sure the patient gets their medication as close to on schedule as possible. That may be a care provider, a family member, or just a loud and annoying reminder alarm on the smartphone. Just because the currently proposed application involves sending a message to the doctor doesn’t mean that is, or always will be, the only option. We’re just a software update away from that concern being addressed.

As to the patient getting multiple medications confused, you’re right that this technology isn’t going to make things magically problem-free for them – but there will be a subset for whom it will make a difference. Hell, some mornings I would love to have some verifiable record of whether I’d already taken my medications! Screw reporting to my doctor; I want to have an app that lets me know. And no, I’m neither particularly old nor afflicted with memory problems.

@Slant

So dissolving the pill in a solution of a given fluid isn’t gonna break this, huh?

Gastric acid is 1.5-3.5 pH. Straight lemon juice is around 2.0. More significantly, orange juice is around 3.0, so it overlaps with gastric acid. I’ll bet this medication will come with a warning to not mix with orange juice or other acidic drinks. I know from first-hand experience that some perfectly ordinary medications on the market already come with that warning.
As far as deliberate attack, yes, this can probably be defeated with enough effort (depending on how exactly the sensor is being activated). But as the coverage says, this isn’t going to be applicable to all situations. The point of the tech as I read it is to simplify monitoring, not completely supplant existing check-ups. If you’re a schizophrenia sufferer who decides to stick it to The Man by fooling the sensor technology, your psychiatrist will more than likely be able to tell you aren’t taking your meds.

[waterloonie]

@GulliverFoyle

Or in them if the facility decides to drug their paydays into a stupor.

I’m not seeing how this technology makes such a scenario any more or less likely. People in assisted living facilities are already under near-total control by their caregivers. Can you elaborate on the scenario you’re envisioning?

[GulliverFoyle]

@waterloonie

Can you elaborate on the scenario you’re envisioning?

No, it’s just a general unease with introducing wireless tracking technology into the human body. I fear involuntarily patients deemed non compos mentis by hurried courts and legally required to take tranquilizers will have their lucidity stolen from them more efficiently by this technology. My fears may be totally off-base and I hope they are.

[Heraclito]

@Melz2

I’m wondering what’s to stop someone from just dropping it in a glass of soda, if all the digestible sensor does is send a signal once it’s reached a certain stage of disintegration.

Thanks in advance.

[anon32019413]

Save up your laxatives for a month instead.

[anothernewbbaccount]

Well, maybe it will be able to detect the difference between digestive juices and the butter coating needed to get a pill inside a cat?

[joey_bladb]

I’m still not sure what the DRM angle is, but this is BoingBoing…

Pill maker can remotely disable medication if patient uses cheaper third party 3D printed patch.

[RickMycroft]

Birth control pills. (For both sexes. After all, the inherent problem with a male pill is the lesser consequences of not taking it.)

Bump phones to exchange data and see if it’s safe to … bump?

[mocon]

Just a matter of time before it calls my congressman every time I take a Plan B.

[Kris_Asard]

@PsiPhiGrrrl

The doctors (or someone in their offices) would probably need to contact someone to help the forgetful patient, especially if the meds affect cognitive ability.

You assume that doctors would use this new tech for services that would actually be benificial for the patients, rather than, say, just create and maintain a digital medication log that would protect them from lawsuits.

[PhasmaFelis]

@Slant

So dissolving the pill in a solution of a given fluid isn’t gonna break this, huh?

@Melz2

I’m wondering what’s to stop someone from just dropping it in a glass of soda, if all the digestible sensor does is send a signal once it’s reached a certain stage of disintegration.

This is for reminding people to take their medication, not forcing them to take drugs against their will. If you don’t want to take the drugs your doctor prescribes you, just tell the doctor to fuck off. You don’t need to accept the patch and then try to trick it.

If someone wants to forcibly drug someone else, they can do that easily already; just hand them the pill and threaten them. (Or dissolve it in water and tell them to drink it, if you’re worried about the victim faking you out.) Worst case scenario, the patch makes it a little easier, but I’m not sure it enables abuse that wasn’t possible before.]

[PhasmaFelis]

@Kris_Asard

You assume that doctors would use this new tech for services that would actually be benificial for the patients, rather than, say, just create and maintain a digital medication log that would protect them from lawsuits.

I’m not clear how that’s not also good for patients.

[Mister44]

Force feeding them poison to appease the pharma overlords. Like anti-depressants and other things that could be replaced by organic food and sunshine.

^^To be clear - that is sarcastic crazy, not real.

[SamWinston]

One of the approved usages is to treat Paranoid schizophrenia.

FDA Approves a Trackable 'Digital Pill' That Delivers Schizophrenia Medication

Seriously…did they even think through. Actually giving a paranoid schizophreniac
a government controlled microchip implant to be monitored by outside powers?
And some one said “okay…this is a good idea”

[gero]

@PhasmaFelis

If someone wants to forcibly drug someone else, they can do that easily already; just hand them the pill and threaten them.

Tangently obligatory xkcd:

Security

[GyroMagician]

No, no, you’re not having paranoid delusions. It’s all true, the government is tracking your pills. Now open wide…

[LemoUtan]

Yes!.

Oh, oh, oh - or have the captive feed the pill through the pet bird, which won’t fully digest it, and retrieve it.

[74hc595]

@GulliverFoyle

No, it’s just a general unease with introducing wireless tracking technology into the human body. I fear involuntarily patients deemed non compos mentis by hurried courts and legally required to take tranquilizers will have their lucidity stolen from them more efficiently by this technology. My fears may be totally off-base and I hope they are.

Or could be used as a tool for forced chemical castration of homosexuals, like the far right is proposing where I live. There’s a lot of potential for harm.

[Snakefarmer]

Like doctors actually care if you take your pills!

[the_borderer]

@PhasmaFelis

This is for reminding people to take their medication, not forcing them to take drugs against their will.

I have heard that not taking medication can be grounds for stopping disability welfare in the US. This can be a problem if there are good reasons for not taking it, like really bad side effects, only taking the medication when needed (not taking opioids regularly when you don’t need to sounds like a good idea to me, in fact that’s how I use them) or religious reasons (forcing Jewish or Muslim people to take pork gelatin coated pills is not cool). There was talk of introducing similar rules in the UK, but they didn’t get anywhere with it (yet!)

If I could guarantee that the data would go no further than the individual taking the medication, then I would be more supportive.