Intrusive medical practices

[jerryswife]

As if all of the other ways in which the medical establishment invades personal privacy and freedom, now they have come up with a way to make your pills tattle on you.  I received this in an email this AM.

"They're already invading our bodies with dangerous drugs, but that's just not enough for Big Pharma.

Nope—they want to step it up to a whole new level of invasion.

Novartis is currently testing technology that inserts a tiny microchip into each pill you take—a microchip that will send you a reminder via text message if you fail to take your next pill as scheduled.

Straight out of sci-fi, but unfortunately all too real. It's been tested in 20 patients using the blood pressure medicine Diovan. Novartis boasts that the microchip boosted "compliance" from 30% to 80%.

Development of the chip came out of rising concern among the government and other parties that we're not seeing the health improvements claimed by drug companies—that people stop taking the drugs because of side effects or because they "fail to notice the value of the drug."

And if people stop taking the drugs, Big Pharma starts losing money. So they need to find new ways to make sure people are choking down their drugs."

And if they are text messaging the patient, who else is getting notified?

[TackleTheWorld]

That sounds like a hoax.

[Lloyd Danforth]

They could design a pill container that could Twitter you when it was time to dose.

[jerryswife]

It is not a hoax.

http://www.medindia.net/news/Novartis-To-Insert-Microchips-In-Pills-To-Remind-Patients-58608-1.htm

[jerryswife]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c1473442-a6f4-11de-bd14-00144feabdc0.html

[TackleTheWorld]

Thanks, for the links.  Wow.

[Raineyrocks]

As if all of the other ways in which the medical establishment invades personal privacy and freedom, now they have come up with a way to make your pills tattle on you.  I received this in an email this AM.

"They're already invading our bodies with dangerous drugs, but that's just not enough for Big Pharma.

Nope—they want to step it up to a whole new level of invasion.

Novartis is currently testing technology that inserts a tiny microchip into each pill you take—a microchip that will send you a reminder via text message if you fail to take your next pill as scheduled.

Straight out of sci-fi, but unfortunately all too real. It's been tested in 20 patients using the blood pressure medicine Diovan. Novartis boasts that the microchip boosted "compliance" from 30% to 80%.

Development of the chip came out of rising concern among the government and other parties that we're not seeing the health improvements claimed by drug companies—that people stop taking the drugs because of side effects or because they "fail to notice the value of the drug."

And if people stop taking the drugs, Big Pharma starts losing money. So they need to find new ways to make sure people are choking down their drugs."

And if they are text messaging the patient, who else is getting notified?

Wow, I don't even want to know what they will come up with next! 

Geesh, I hate when I don't put my seat belt on and the stupid bell dings.  I always call the car a little snitch bitch, could you imagine dealing with that regarding medication?   I've learned to just click the seat belt behind my back though to shut the dinger off.

I guess if it was a narcotic that would be cool, only kidding! 

  I'd like to add though in some cases we don't have to put up with this; we choose to.  There are a lot of alternatives to medications and people could refuse this chipped medicine so really there's no victim here, just physco technology. 

Denise, Maineshark's wife is really smart when it comes to alternative choices instead of medications.

Cool article find, thanks!