Volume 18
December 2017 Edition
Eventually , the patient poops out the tiny transmitter . Chai says he does not want the transmitters back .
“ EVENTUALLY , THE PATIENT POOPS OUT THE TINY TRANSMITTER ”
The team sent 15 patients who ’ d been treated for broken bones home with 21 of these pills , along with instructions to take them for a week as needed .
The researchers found that most patients started tapering their opioid doses on their own , and stopped after about four days — before the full week was up .
None took all 21 pills , and most took many fewer — which means doctors might be sending people with fractures home with too many painkillers that could then be sold or misused .
It ’ s still early , but Chai says that the next round of studies will use an even more sophisticated version of these digital pill detectors .
“ We ’ re playing with the 1990s iPod . We have the iPhone X now ,” Chai says .
Of course , the patients will still actually have to wear the device — when they forgot , their doctors were left just as in the dark as before .
Original post https :// www . theverge . com / 2017 / 11 / 20 / 16683272 / digital-pills-opioidsprescription-pain-killers-addiction-overdose-science
Editor ’ s note : ID-Cap is currently only available for use in IRB-approved clinical research . Not for sale in the US , pending FDA clearance .
** http :// etectrx . com / wp-content / uploads / 2017 / 07 / JMAR-Dr . -Peter-Chai-article . pdf
The researchers also spotted an alarming trend : people were taking painkillers right before going to sleep to pre-empt waking up with pain .
But Chai says this could lead to dangerous drops in breathing for some people — and it ’ s a practice they might not have identified without the digital pills .
( Learn More . Different product but somewhat similar technology , explained . Courtesy of PodReel and YouTube )
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