Take Your Pills?

Posted on June 17, 2008

Remembering to take medicine isn’t the easiest thing to do. Even with the help of the little compartmented pill boxes with the days of the week imprinted on them, I can still forget. No problem.

So how do doctors ensure your meds are taken, especially in urgent situations? Well, how do you get a dog to do something on command? Can you spell R-E-W-A-R-D?

So how can doctors ensure patients take their medicine? Simple, give them a reward.

A great example of this is tuberculosis patients who have to complete a several month course of medication or risk the spread of drug-resistant strains. Healthcare workers are assigned to be sure patients follow their doctor’s orders, but that’s a pretty expensive approach.

A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has come up with a cheaper solution that should be more reliable. Each day, patients take a urine test using filter paper produced by a timed-release dispenser. The paper reacts to metabolites of the TB drug. If the metabolites are present, the paper displays a code which the patient text messages directly to a database. Those who miss fewer than five of their pills each month receive free call time for their cellphones.

A great idea with loads of potential for other situations….