Pharmacy
to sell edible microchips that will alert doctors if patients are not taking
right medicines.
January 17, 2012
How easily all of this can be abused!
Imagine a world where the government monitors everything you eat
and drink, and makes sure you take all your pharmaceutical drugs by feeding you
an edible microchip that transmits this compliance information remotely to
authorities. Such a world is almost a reality, as a California-based
biotechnology company is about to unveil an edible microchip tracking device in
the UK that monitors patients' compliance with prescribed drug regimes, and
sends this information to family members and caretakers.
An edible microchip that records the precise details of a
patient's pill regime will be available in Britain by the end of year following
a commercial deal that opens the door to an era of digital medicines.
The UK's Independent says Proteus Biomedical, the company
responsible for making the edible microchip, has formed a commercial
partnership with Lloyds pharmacy, a UK pharmacy and healthcare provider, to
begin selling the tiny chips to patients by year's end. Smaller than a grain of
sand, the tiny chip will monitor which drug pills are taken, and electronically
send this information to patches worn on patients' arms. The patches will then
send the information to the mobile phones of patients' relatives and
physicians.
Like they often do with technology that is unproven and that
threatens privacy, advocates of the microchips say they will help improve the
efficacy of drug treatments by ensuring that drugs are taken at the right
times, and in the "correct" amounts. But what these advocates fail to
note is how the technology can, and likely will, be abused down the road to
enforce compliance with totalitarian government drug mandates, including
vaccine mandates
The aim is to develop a suite of "intelligent
medicines" that can help patients and their caregivers keep track of which
pills are taken at what time of day, in order to ensure that complex regimes of
drugs are given the best possible chance of working effectively.
Ultimately, the plan is for every one of the many pills taken
each day by some of the most chronically-ill patients, especially those with
mental health problems, to be digitally time-stamped as they are digested
within the body.
The healthcare company Lloyds- pharmacy said it intends to sell
the edible microchips of Proteus Biomedical of California by the end of the
year, as part of a trial to test whether NHS patients would be prepared to pay
privately to ensure that they or their relatives take the right medicines at
the right time.
"There is a huge problem with medicines not being taken
correctly," said Steve Gray, healthcare services director of
Lloydspharmacy.
"Anyone taking several medications knows how easy it can be
to lose track of whether or not you've taken the correct tablets that
day," he added.
"Add to that complex health issues and families caring for
loved ones who many not live with them and you can appreciate the benefits of
an information service that helps patients to get the most from their
treatments and for families to help them to remain well."
Lloydspharmacy said the World Health Organisation has found that
about half of all patients fail to take their medicines correctly, which can
lead to people not getting the full benefits of treatment, or ending up with
harmful side-effects.
Unused prescription medicines are estimated to cost the NHS
nearly £400m a year.
The Proteus technology is based on the company's digestible
sensors, which are no bigger than a grain of sand. The chips are reportedly
made of "ingredients commonly found in food," and are layered with
copper, magnesium, and silicon components. When consumed along with
pharmaceutical drugs, these chips are activated by stomach acids, which causes
them to generate electric currents marked with specific signatures that match
the drugs taken. When the process is complete, parties receiving the
information will know whether or not patients took their medications, and at
what time they took them.
At the heart of the technology is a tiny silicon wafer
separating tiny quantities of copper and magnesium, which effectively forms a
microscopic battery that generates an electric current when immersed in the
acidic environment of the stomach.
These electric currents, which can be given individual
signatures to match the drug taken with the edible sensor, are detected
passively by an intelligent patch stuck to the patient's skin, in much the same
way that electrocardiogram (ECG) skin patches can record the electric currents
within the heart.
The patch, which is designed to be worn for seven days, includes
a flexible battery and chip that records the information and sends it by
Bluetooth wireless technology to the mobile phone of a relative or professional
caregiver.
"In the future the goal is a fully integrated system that
creates an information product that helps patients and their families with the
demands of complex pharmacy," said Andrew Thompson, the chief executive
and founder of Proteus Biomedical.
"What we know is that we've created many pharmaceuticals
with great potential but much of that potential is not realized because these
drugs are not being used properly."
Neither company was prepared to comment on the cost of the
digestible microchips, but industry sources suggested a starting cost of about
£50 per week.
Time will tell if Brits
accept the technology, and whether or not they are willing to shell out their
own cash to pay for the microchips themselves. Reports indicate that the
technology, at least initially, will not be covered by the UK's National Health
Service (NHS
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