FDA Approves New Digital Sensor To Ensure "Patients With Mental Health Issues" Take Their Meds

Title: FDA Approves New Digital Sensor To Ensure "Patients With Mental Health Issues" Take Their Meds

Source Article

It will “ensure” that patients who suffer from mental health issues take their medicine when they are told. But privacy concerns have not gone unnoticed.

Others are worried that tracking pills will be a step towards punishing patients who don’t comply with either medical or government demands to take drugs.

How crazy is this. This is FDA approved, as well!

I can see pro's and con's to both sides of this and I am unsure how I feel about it.

On one hand, it would be handy to look and be able to tell if you remember to take your meds this morning.

On the other hand, it certainly opens the doors for a lot of bad ju-ju.

The idea the government COULD punish people for not taking their meds, be it a blood pressure med or their head-meds is rather... un-American.

Are we slowly losing our patient rights? Just because a doctor prescribes a medication does NOT mean you have to take it, Doctors are not gods they are fallible humans just like the patient.

It seems we are being led down a road to where we are just like cattle.

Would you feel comfortable having your medication habits tracked?

Do you think people should be punished for NOT taking medications?

Do personal rights trump medical advice?

Thoughts, ATS?

OP i agree with you.. Think about the police who could maybe even without a warrant now
get that info... Equifax was hacked for Gods sake almost every american was exposed..
This information could be used against you for a number of things and abused way too much
for this to be normalized.

a reply to: Cygnis


FDA approval is about public safety, "kind of a joke there".

They don't make morality judgements yet..

Well I haven't considered the down side yet, but right away I like the general idea.

I suffer a lot. I suffer more because I get on one med, then I forget to take it here and there early on in the treatment, and i ruin the effect and the ammount in my body etc.. etc...

I've given up on medication for my depression and anxiety for that reason, i just can't be responsible enough to take it, and my memory is so awful that since I was 15 I've felt like I have been developing Alzheimer that's getting worse and worse, i don't know what is wrong with my memory.

This would be so helpful, then I would know if I took one pill, or didn't take any, it COULD be such a relief.

-Alee

I agree that in making sure people take their meds is a good thing, I can see this having a really positive application for people with Demential living alone for instance.

However I don't really know how it would work, whats to stop someone taking it out of the box, putting the pill in their mouth and then just spitting it out into the sink.

To me this is not the answer to the problem of psyche patients not taking their meds, if you really want to do that then they need admitted to hospital realistically, thats the only way you can be guaranteed to do it.

This seems like it could have some useful applications but I don't think its going to have a big impact on mental health.

a reply to: Cygnis

I don't see this really working for people who hate or refuse to take their medicine. For people who don't want to be monitored, they'll find a way around it, like searching the internet for how to make simulated stomach acid...

sciencing.com...

a reply to: Deetermined

The real rub here is, if "punishments" are suddenly levied against people who are not taking meds as "ordered".

What is to stop a court from issuing medication issues? They already issue Life-support orders for continuing care of pulling the plug. It'd be a small step to do it for meds.

a reply to: OtherSideOfTheCoin

To make that work we'd need to bring back mental institutions.

I don't see that happening.

a reply to: NerdGoddess

Indeed, I don't disagree with the personal accountability side. I have a thyroid med I need to take, and I forget sometimes. Would be handy to be able to look.

However, I don't think this will lead down a good road for the over-all.

If it could be kept out of government/courts/etc hands, sure.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: Cygnis


FDA approval is about public safety, "kind of a joke there".

They don't make morality judgements yet..

Public saftey? Even that is a questionable thing coming from the FDA considering what they consider "safe" for us.

That would be hypocrisy, a government agency dictating morality... /chuckle

a reply to: Cygnis

Is there aim to make schizophrenics more paranoid?

I'm already getting paranoid about it.

This type of thing would be fine for those with heart problems for instance. It's as if they are saying all schizophrenics need to be monitored just because of a few really mad schizophrenics going out and harming others. So because of the few, the many have to take it. This is the same thing people have been doing for ages now. Look at the cams eveywhere... put there to stop criminals from doing stuff but they track everyone.

originally posted by: starfoxxx
OP i agree with you.. Think about the police who could maybe even without a warrant now
get that info... Equifax was hacked for Gods sake almost every american was exposed..
This information could be used against you for a number of things and abused way too much
for this to be normalized.

As the old-ish saying goes, if you want to keep it private don't put it online.

I think that would also make HIPAA laws pretty moot.

originally posted by: TruthxIsxInxThexMist
a reply to: Cygnis

Is there aim to make schizophrenics more paranoid?

I'm already getting paranoid about it.

This type of thing would be fine for those with heart problems for instance. It's as if they are saying all schizophrenics need to be monitored just because of a few really mad schizophrenics going out and harming others. So because of the few, the many have to take it. This is the same thing people have been doing for ages now. Look at the cams eveywhere... put there to stop criminals from doing stuff but they track everyone.

As per usual, it is about control.

I am starting to think people who WANT to be in charge are nothing more than control freaks, with narcissistic tendencies and a touch of other issues.

Control, control, control.

That is my belief.

First it'll start out as accountability then quietly they will begin implementing punishment(s) for those that don't take their water-pills as mandated.

a reply to: Cygnis

I read about this years ago as a way to keep track of pain pills, to prevent diversion and make sure the patient is taking their medication.

It's funny it would be spun as a mental health issue. This way, it can probably slide by all the patient advocates who were so angry about this infringement on rights back then.

originally posted by: Cygnis

originally posted by: TruthxIsxInxThexMist
a reply to: Cygnis

Is there aim to make schizophrenics more paranoid?

I'm already getting paranoid about it.

This type of thing would be fine for those with heart problems for instance. It's as if they are saying all schizophrenics need to be monitored just because of a few really mad schizophrenics going out and harming others. So because of the few, the many have to take it. This is the same thing people have been doing for ages now. Look at the cams eveywhere... put there to stop criminals from doing stuff but they track everyone.

As per usual, it is about control.

I am starting to think people who WANT to be in charge are nothing more than control freaks, with narcissistic tendencies and a touch of other issues.

Control, control, control.

That is my belief.

First it'll start out as accountability then quietly they will begin implementing punishment(s) for those that don't take their water-pills as mandated.

I think this is a test run actually. The excuse is schozophrenics because they need willing people for the test run before they implented the tracking/paying device for everyone.

a reply to: Cygnis

"Do personal rights trump medical advice? "

That doesn't even begin to get to the real issue!

The real issue is does the demands of the society as a whole trump an individual's right to live free of government intervention when they have an illness that threatens the health, safety and welfare of the society as a whole!

Millions of Americans are mentally ill to the point that in order to remain stable and non-threatening, they have to daily ingest SSRI type anti-depressants. The biggest problem this society faces is the number of these sick people go off their meds and start listening to the voices in their heads to go shoot people up en masse.

That problem taken together with the fact that there is no mental health hospitals where these people can be warehoused so they've been thrown out into general population onto the "community" health services, means solutions like this should be implemented immediately and should be mandatory! Not only should they be mandatory, but I'd suggest that those at the extreme range of mental illness should be fitted with tracking devices and shock collars so that they can be controlled and located when they go off their meds!

originally posted by: TonyS
a reply to: Cygnis

"Do personal rights trump medical advice? "

That doesn't even begin to get to the real issue!

The real issue is does the demands of the society as a whole trump an individual's right to live free of government intervention when they have an illness that threatens the health, safety and welfare of the society as a whole!

Millions of Americans are mentally ill to the point that in order to remain stable and non-threatening, they have to daily ingest SSRI type anti-depressants. The biggest problem this society faces is the number of these sick people go off their meds and start listening to the voices in their heads to go shoot people up en masse.

That problem taken together with the fact that there is no mental health hospitals where these people can be warehoused so they've been thrown out into general population onto the "community" health services, means solutions like this should be implemented immediately and should be mandatory! Not only should they be mandatory, but I'd suggest that those at the extreme range of mental illness should be fitted with tracking devices and shock collars so that they can be controlled and located when they go off their meds!

Not to get off topic here, as the main idea of the thread is talking about government being able to track meds a person takes, but the fact you seem to think most Americans are on SSRIs is rather a broad brush to paint with, imo. The reason Mental wards/institutions were done away with was because of the amount of abuse that occurred in them. The public outcry, once it came to light the amount of abuse and torture the patients were enduring, was rather disgusting. Not to mention, the institutions were under-funded.

Perhaps if most Americans would stop eating McDonald's and opt for real food, a lot of problems might be averted, like obesity, and mental health, heart disease and diabetes.

But back to the article, the FDA (who, incidentally who allow the crap that is in our food), thinks microchipped medicine is a good thing too.

Two wrongs don't make a right. It is a very, very slippery slope that is now being traversed. Don't think this won't spread to other countries either.

originally posted by: TonyS
a reply to: Cygnis

"Do personal rights trump medical advice? "

That problem taken together with the fact that there is no mental health hospitals where these people can be warehoused so they've been thrown out into general population onto the "community" health services, means solutions like this should be implemented immediately and should be mandatory! Not only should they be mandatory, but I'd suggest that those at the extreme range of mental illness should be fitted with tracking devices and shock collars so that they can be controlled and located when they go off their meds!

As you are obviously mentally ill, let's start with you. I think a shock collar would be a good start for you.

a reply to: Cygnis

I don't think "most" Americans are on SSRI's. But having worked around that industry I do know for a fact that millions are and that a great many of the mass shootings are perpetrated by people who quit taking their meds! The problem may be less the people than it is the SSRI's. The problem with the SSRI's is that Selective Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors cause an extreme psychotic reaction in the user when taking them is stopped entirely after weeks of taking them. To successfully get off an SSRI drug, one has to weaned off them slowly and then, only under a physicians supervision.

The abuse in the mental hospitals is and was a serious problem. So the solution was to throw the patients out into community supervision. The problem with that is the community health services didn't have the facilities or the staff to properly administer the population. The result of that has been that a cycle has been established wherein the mentally ill are picked up by law enforcement, remanded by a Criminal Court judge to a county mental health facility for observation for 90 days where they are put back on the drugs. After 90 days, they return to the court and certified as "well" enough to stand trial for whatever petty crime they were charged with; adjudicated guilty, typically a misdemeanor, and release for time served, (the 90 days in the mental health facility).

Six months later...........they forget to take their meds and are found again by the cops pissing up a tree or throwing bottles off an overpass and go through the whole process again. And that is the process for the majority diagnosed with Bi-Polar Manic Depression...............the Schizophrenics? Much worse problem and far reaching consequences when they go off their meds.

Its not "most" of the US population, but its a huge problem for the mentally ill portion of the population. And because Big Pharma makes billions off SSRI's its only getting worse.

How crazy is this?

On a scale from 1 to 10
15/10

We are being played folks. Played hard.
So many new invasive techs coming our way in the vicious disguise of protection and good intention.

Let's remember everything is also being used for evil in this world. There are some things that we should not tolerate and this is one of them.

Next thing we know, we all wake up in the morning with a chip in our hand.