Input On Dispensing Chronic Pain Medication
[ Wednesday November 25th 2020 at 11:12 pm ]
I have just sent a letter to Health Canada and the equivalent ageny here in Ontario Canada. I have three suggestions for improving dispensing chronic pain and reducing instances of taking a second dose before it was due. I wanted to put these forward.
A summary of my three suggestions:
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Consistency using a unique pill bottle for dispensing these medications
This is to make it easy to identify the medication with each new refill. This could be accomplished the size of the pill bottle the medication is dispensed in, the color of the lid or adding a color piece of tape / sticker to each bottle and the patient associating a given color with a specific medication. -
Supplying pharmacies with pill bottles that have a timer mechanism in the lid to track time elapsed since last used
The timer on a pill bottle would confirm it has been a given # of hours since it was last opened. If you are suppose to use medication every 8 to 12 hours the timer would affirm it is time for the next dose. -
Have a smart phone app to show what medications should be used
Another route is having technology showing you the pills you should take. This would involve matching what the pill(s) look like on your tablet or cell phone with what you are taking.
I wanted to add this summary in my blog for any policy makers who may find there way here in the future.