PrescriptionDrugs
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Walgreens offers next-day prescription deliveries through FedEx
Walgreens and FedEx announced today a partnership that will provide next-day prescription drug deliveries from Walgreens pharmacies. The service will be available nationwide for Walgreens customers and will cost $4.99 per drop off. Walgreens said some markets will have an option for same-day delivery, and the company plans to expand that service next year.
Vitality GlowCaps smart pill bottle toppers now available on Amazon
Pill poppers rejoice! AT&T-connected Vitality GlowCaps are finally available on Amazon. The intelligent pill caps, which use flashing lights and audio reminders, as well as phone calls and SMS, to remind forgetful patients that it's down-the-hatch time, retail between $10 and $15 a month through a Vitality connectivity service plan. Details of GlowCap's functionality were still up in the air when we got our hands on one back in March, but it looks like AT&T and Vitality have ironed out all the smart Rx kinks. Basically, your pill bottle lights up and chimes when it's time for your meds. As soon as you open the bottle, adherence data is then sent via AT&T to Vitality, who then passes that data on to you, your doctor, and any other approved party, in the form of progress reports. They're also equipped to automatically refill your prescription when the bottle gets low. Considering you still remember what that little light means when it appears (and you don't have a penchant for over-medicating), GlowCap might just save your life. We've been using ours for about a month now, and still haven't kicked the bucket -- review coming soon.
Drug vending machines start trial in UK, allow awkward videophone conversations with your pharmacist
You've got to imagine the Japanese are green with envy right now, as the BBC report not one, but two different drug vending machines are being tested out under Her Majesty's watchful eye. The first of these experiments is run by supermarket chain Sainsbury's, which has installed a pair of drug dispenser machines in its stores. They identify users by their fingerprint or a unique number, demand PIN verification too, and then finally accept your prescription. Then -- and this is the really silly part -- a pharmacist comes along, picks up your prescription, fills it out, and deposits it in the machine for you to pick up. So it's impersonal and unnecessarily convoluted, great. PharmaTrust seems to have a slightly better idea with its videophone-equipped, ATM-style robo-vendor: it's intended to allow pharmacists to approve prescriptions off-site and out of usual working hours by letting them speak to you via videophone. It could in fact be a big benefit in more remote areas, depending on how patients take to it -- we'll know more when the trial starts up in participating hospitals this winter.
