Digestible Drug Monitoring Pill Hits US Media
The Wall Street Journal last week had the first piece I’ve seen in the major media in the US on Proteus Biomedical’s digestible drug monitoring pill and I thought I’d flag it for readers. Here’s what the buzz is about:
“Doctors might decide to intervene, for example, when they notice a heart patient isn’t sleeping well or is taking incorrect dosages — problems that could lead to congestive heart failure.
“Proteus isn’t alone. Dozens of large and small companies are turning to wireless technology to achieve what the Obama administration is seeking through legislation: a health-care system that keeps people healthier for less.
“‘Wireless applications have the potential to change every one of these areas,’ said Eric Topol, a cardiologist and genomics professor at Scripps Research Institute, at an industry event in San Diego last week.”
While I’m sure there are conditions and treatments for which this kind of thing makes sense, I am still troubled with how broadly they could be used–would everyone under Medicaid and Medicare be required to take part?–because I see a range of privacy concerns and patients being forced to take medicines that areallegdely evidence-based treatments but are in fact the result of pharma companies and academic researchers twisting evidence to suit their needs. As I noted in April when news of this digestible first popped up in the UK press:
“Do any women really want their docs monitoring what they put in their bodies in such a fashion? Is there anyone who takes anti-depressants who wants his or her doc probing their medication compliance so intimately? I doubt it. What would the doctor even say if a woman missed taking the Pill for a week? ‘Hi, we’ve noticed a disturbing pattern in your estrogen intake. Oh, you are trying to get pregnant? Come into my office for mandatory counseling and depression screening? I need to sell you pills of some kind.’”
Obviously, if someone voluntarily consents to such monitoring, then have at it. But I bet things are trickier for those of us who refuse.
Related posts:
- FDA Pulls Sexual Stimulant Pill Finding It Contains Unapproved Erectile Dysfunction Drug
- Pill Crazy, Mike Royko’s Son Gets 30 Months For Bank Robbery
- Study: Paxil Damages Sperm In 50 Percent Of Men Taking Drug
- When Mainstream Media Comes Out Against Health Care Bill….
- Paxil Interferes With Breast Cancer Drug
Posted in Furious Seasons