Pharmacy in a Chip

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17050551

The article posted above discusses the clincial trial of a microchip device that was inserted into women who needed treatment for osteoporosis. The microchip contained dosages of the medication they needed, teriparatide, a parathyroid hormone, and was programmed to release the medication at a certain time each day. Seven out of eight test subjects had a positive experience with the clinical trial, and even though these results are not good enough to make the technology available to everyone at this time, they are encouraging pharmaceutical corporations to continue their investigation into this new way of distributing drugs. I personally believe that with some more research, this method of distribution would be very beneficial to patients. With the ability to set the microchip to release drugs at certain times, there is less chance that patients will forget to take their medication or overdose on medication. As well, this means would be more effective as it releases the medication in the body close to capillaries to intake the drug faster than taking an oral medication could. Also, it would prove to be less painful that having to inject certain medications into one's body on a daily basis, which would encourage more people to stay on their medications. Fewer side-effects were also experienced with the use of the microchip during the trial than the women had experienced with the use of an injection to treat their condition. Overall, it can be said that this method of medication distribution may prove to be very effective in the future.

I personally would never do something like that. To have some foreign thing put into my body, like a microchip, would completely unnerve me. What if the microchip malfunctions? People would stop receiving the medication they need, and not even realize it. I would always be thinking about it, if it have given me my medicine on time and things like that. I think that people who would put this thing into their body because they forget their pills are just lazy. There are many people in this world that need to take pills and manage to never to forget them. And with certain drugs that you take, you need to eat with them, or drink a full glass of water with them. If the drug is put directly into your blood stream, would you need to always eat at that certain time, or drink at that certain time? It would completely control you. If people were boarding an airplane and the drug was released to them and they needed to eat something, they would have to miss their flight, or the flight would have to stay on the ground while one person eats. I personally don't think this idea is a good one. I can see too many things to go wrong with this new device and too many complications.

Although both of the recent responses make perfect sense, I personally tend to be leaning on Cassidy's because she touches a point that is very crucial in saving people's lives, and that is the point about people who tend to forget taking their medication for various reasons. Although this new invention is not fully developed and only has a seven out of eight ratio of success, I believe it has enough potential to have more money towards research invested in it. Most elderly people have conditions that prevent them to remember time such as Alzheimer's (forgive the spelling) and this chip can help save their lives by giving them the needed dosage of medication at the correct amount of time. This new chip could also be useful with patients of mentally handicapped conditions, in which the goverment spends extensive amount of money hiring workers to give them there correct medication. Therefore, I believe we could save both lives and money if we continue developing this new technology.

I think it’s a very impressive device. It provides a more convenient way to take your medication and with more money, time and research I think it will become available to us. I think it’ll be helpful for patients who have to take injections and don’t want to deal with the discomfort. For example, patients who have Type 1 diabetes, or children who have diseases that require injections. I mean what child wants to get injections 2-3 times a day? I don’t think it necessarily has to do with being lazy either, because like Marvin mentioned some patients who forget to take their medication may have an underlying condition. Also, those people who have to take 10 pills a day may see this as an easier alternative, but not because they’re lazy, maybe because for some people swallowing pills is uncomfortable. Although, I can see where you’re coming from Alexandra, there would be some complications but I’m sure that with more clinical trials and research, they would find ways to get around most of them. For example, if the patient used the remote controlled option, they could just press the remote when they're ready to eat, so they get their medication and are still able to eat when they feel like. Obviously, someone who forgets to take their medication wouldn't use this option because they'd forget to press the remote. So really nothing is perfect, everything has side effects and it may not work on everyone. But if it’ll work for the majority of people then I think it’s a success.

Alexandra does bring up a good counter arguement in regards to the use of this developing technology. It is true that there are certain people and medications that are not going to be compatible with the use of a chip to administer medication. This is one reason why more research is being put into the product, to ensure that the medications that will be administered through the chip will not cause complications in the life of its users. When it comes to personal preference of administration of medication, this would simply be another option for patients. It would in no way be meant to replace existing forms of administering drugs as it is understood that not everyone is comfortable with the idea of this technology being placed in their body. If a patient is comfortable with it though, I still believe it will one day be a great alternative to taking medication orally or through injections.

I think that this microchip could be revolutionary to the medical world, but there are some downsides to this idea. Like Alexandra said the chip could malfunction, if this does happen the chip could accidently hand out more medication than is actually needed. This in the end could ultimately result in an overdose which may cause harm to the patient, if this does happen there will for sure be lawyers involved and things could get serious. Another downfall to this microchip would be a lesser need for pharmacists since the chip is practically taking over their job for them. This would harm those working in pharmacy maily but it's still a possible concern. A third point about the microchip is how many doses can it actually hold because once it runs out it surely would have to be replaced and this could be a hassle to those needing more doses. If people taking their drugs were too lazy to take a dose through a needle daily they surely would be far to lazy to have their microchip replaced. And finally, what would the cost be of a microchip like this because many people may barely be able to afford their medication as it is, and may not be able to handle the cost of inserting a microchip rendering this invention pointless. Also, if the goverment does cover costs of the microchip would that increase taxes? Because if it does then you would have some unhappy people that have no use for this microchip. Although, i listed many points against the microchip i do feel it has some potential within it with more research and study towards it.