In late 2017, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first so-called smart pill, ushering in a new era of medical care. The inaugural effort involved embedding a sensor in Abilify, an old drug for treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which can make it easier to track whether patients take their medicine, an especially thorny issue for people suffering from mental illness.
But in a new study, several researchers claim the regulatory endorsement was misguided.
About the Author Reprints
It is a welcome development that FDA has made in their move for the treatment of Schizophrenia.
It’s not really evergreening when the same active ingredient is available in generic form without the tech piece. They don’t have a study so can’t claim improved adherence, though it is implicit in the concept of the technology.
I suspect this isn’t doing much Rx-wise, but it’s still interesting technology that could be helpful in future applications. I do think schizophrenia is the worst place to begin, unless we’re talking about legally enforced administration, which I believe is rare and is definitely controversial.