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Many people forget to take their medicine. About half of patients don't take their drugs as prescribed - maybe skipping doses or taking them at the wrong time. Non-compliance costs between $100 and $300 billion each year in the US alone. But now, there's a pill that knows when its been swallowed.
This so-called smart pill is prescribed for schizophrenia and is called Abilify Mycite. The action starts when the pill, which contains a tiny sensor, hits stomach fluids. This releases a timestamped wireless signal.
The signal is picked up by a patch worn by the patient. The patch then alerts an app on the patient's smartphone. With the patient's consent, doctors and other individuals can see the timestamps, so they'll know whether the patient is complying without even asking them.
The active ingredient has been around for a while, but the tracking technology and the pill is new and has just been okayed by the Food and Drug Administration in the US. It's the first approval for trackable drug, although other companies and universities are trying to get into the same market. While it might help patients to comply, this hasn't been proven, and the pill doesn't reliably trigger a signal every time. The pill also raises ethical issues.
Should mental health patients be the first guinea pigs? They could become distressed if they pop a pill but then fails to show up on the app. And what about privacy? All of the timestamps will be accessible through a web portal but how secure is it?
Medical information is sensitive. It can affect health insurance and job prospects.
Billions of dollars are pouring into venture capital funding for digital health products. Sensors are getting smaller and cheaper. Digital health tracking is becoming ubiquitous. So smart pills are one healthcare trend we might need to swallow.