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Drug Vending Machines

Posted by samzenpus on from the correct-change-only dept.

An anonymous reader writes "If you guessed San Bernardino County prisons as the ideal place to put drug vending machines, come claim your prize. From the article, 'Corrections departments are responsible for so many burdensome tasks that many of their everyday functions, like administering prescription drugs to inmates, are afterthoughts for the public. However, dispensing medication was so laborious and wasteful for the San Bernardino County (Calif.) Sheriff-Coroner Department that officials sought a way to streamline the process. The end product was essentially a vending machine that links to correctional facility databases and dispenses prescription medications.'"

97 comments

  1. I expected... by zergl · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I expected Heroin/Crack dispensers reading the headline.

    Left disappointed.

    1. Re:I expected... by zapakh · · Score: 1

      I expected Heroin/Crack dispensers reading the headline.

      Left disappointed.

      Maybe not, but we had a Heroin/Crack addict reading the headline...

  2. What could go wrong by g0es · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's a clever idea, but what is making sure they take the drugs?

    1. Re:What could go wrong by millwall · · Score: 1, Insightful

      It's a clever idea, but what is making sure they take the drugs?

      Who is making sure of that with the current setup?

    2. Re:What could go wrong by OrangeMonkey11 · · Score: 1

      In most cases the prisoners/patients are not allow to walk away until they take the medication in front of the staff. But the catch22 is most of the prisoners/patients just don't swallow the pills or if they do they force them back out later.

      in either case it seem to be a lose lose situation but if this solution saves money for that state it's not a bad idea IMO

    3. Re:What could go wrong by LordLimecat · · Score: 4, Informative

      Thats not what a Catch-22 is.

    4. Re:What could go wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The archetypal Catch-22, as formulated by Heller, involves the case of John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces bombardier, who wishes to be grounded from combat flight duty. To be grounded, he must be officially evaluated by the squadron's flight surgeon and then found "unfit to fly".
      "Unfit" would be any pilot that is actually willing to fly such dangerous missions: as one would have to be mad to want to take on such missions.
      But the "problem" is that to be declared "unfit", he must first "ask for evaluation", which is considered as a sufficient proof for being declared "sane". These conditions make impossible being declared "unfit".

    5. Re:What could go wrong by kalirion · · Score: 1

      Why should they make sure? This is a prison, not a mental institution. If a diabetic prisoner does not want to take his insulin, that's his problem.

    6. Re:What could go wrong by Jim_Maryland · · Score: 2, Informative

      My wife currently works as a nurse at the prison system in Maryland. Part of her duties include passing medications to the inmates. Unlike medications that most of us are familiar with, most of the medications are not coated. Those that are in capsule form are opened and poured into the drinking cup. Anyone found to be regurgitating medicines have theirs crushed and dissolved in water in the future. There are also limits on certain medications that prohibit their usage (think some of the pain medications that have codeine are included on this list for example).

      I think she'll agree with some of the assessment about topics in the article that were listed as wasteful. I'm not sure that a vending system solves all the problems without creating new ones. The GP mentioned ensuring the inmate is taking the medications, but add to that taking them properly, inmate interaction with the nurse for reactions to the medication or other problems, nurse assessments, etc.... My wife works in one of the psychiatric sections so I'm not sure some of the inmates would be able to function using a system like this.

    7. Re:What could go wrong by Ironica · · Score: 1

      Why should they make sure? This is a prison, not a mental institution. If a diabetic prisoner does not want to take his insulin, that's his problem.

      An awful lot of prison inmates are on drugs to control mental health issues. You really don't want a guy deciding not to take his meds for schizophrenia and having a psychotic break in the middle of the cafeteria.

      Also, if a diabetic doesn't take his Glyburide (insulin is injected, so probably can't be administered by the machine... I don't imagine prisoners are given unsupervised access to needles), and goes into a diabetic coma, he's then admitted to the hospital on the public dime. We *still* have to take care of their health problems, even if they create them themselves. Ensuring medication compliance saves public money.

      --
      Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
    8. Re:What could go wrong by gregthebunny · · Score: 1

      Somehow, in this crazy mixed-up world of ours, the prison is still responsible...

    9. Re:What could go wrong by Golddess · · Score: 1

      It's a clever idea, but what is making sure they take the drugs?

      Who is making sure of that with the current setup?

      Yes, not the pronoun but a person with the unlikely name of Who is making sure of that with the current setup.


      But in all seriousness, I imagine the person currently dispensing the drugs is performing this role, making sure the person takes the drugs before moving on to the next person. Unless it's so bad they just have the drugs spread out on a table and they tell the people to just take what they need.

      --
      "I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
    10. Re:What could go wrong by kalirion · · Score: 1

      An awful lot of prison inmates are on drugs to control mental health issues. You really don't want a guy deciding not to take his meds for schizophrenia and having a psychotic break in the middle of the cafeteria.

      Is that what happens when the insanity defense fails (or isn't attempted) - they get sent to normal prison but given drugs to control their insanity? Doesn't seem right....

    11. Re:What could go wrong by Ironica · · Score: 1

      An awful lot of prison inmates are on drugs to control mental health issues. You really don't want a guy deciding not to take his meds for schizophrenia and having a psychotic break in the middle of the cafeteria.

      Is that what happens when the insanity defense fails (or isn't attempted) - they get sent to normal prison but given drugs to control their insanity? Doesn't seem right....

      Insanity defense only works if you're insane enough that you cannot tell right from wrong. If you can tell right from wrong, but you don't have the impulse control to avoid doing something just because you know it's wrong, you still go to prison.

      Or, if your misdeeds were not directly motivated by your insanity at all... say, your psychiatric condition was adequately controlled by medication, but you got drunk and ran a red light and killed someone (voluntary manslaughter). Or maybe your condition was not identified/diagnosed until *after* you were arrested, tried, convicted, and incarcerated. You may even be under treatment for conditions related to incarceration, such as PTSD or clinical depression.

      Yeah, it's not right. IMO, committing a crime is, in most cases, almost proof that you're not in your right mind. But I don't make the rules.

      --
      Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
  3. Flushed down the toilet? by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Pharmaceutical regulations require that if medication is prepared for a patient and he or she can't be reached, it's deemed undeliverable and must be destroyed. The leftovers are typically flushed down the toilet or incinerated.

    It should be illegal to flush medication down the toilet. Sewage often gets dumped unprocessed into waterways (especially when it is raining) and potent prescription medications can have significant effects when let loose in the world. It has gotten to the point where most drinking water in the USA not only has rocket fuel in it even after processing, but also antibiotics. If you don't think that will have serious repercussions, you're not thinking.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by schnikies79 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Flushing drugs down the toilet isn't the problem. The problem is that a large portion of many medications taken are simply peed away. Good luck telling people not to urinate in the toilet when they are taking antibiotics or birth control pills.

      --
      Gone!
    2. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by stickrnan · · Score: 1

      A study in LA in 2005 (sorry don't have the source) showed small amounts progesterone in the drinking water. Whether from people flushing or simply urinating the hormone away, I don't know. But such studies explain why my wife is only drinking filtered water during her pregnancy.

    3. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by bosef1 · · Score: 1

      The FDA and EPA are aware of the problem of powerful drugs entering the water supply, see http://www.epa.gov/ppcp/ and http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm101653.htm. Aside from certain classes and types of drugs, the FDA recommends that most drugs be mixed with regular solid waste for disposal, not flushed down the toilet (the mixing with solid waste is to prevent children and pets from accidently ingesting the drugs by rendering them unpalatable). The FDA had list of classes of drugs that should be flushed (I can't find it now). Most of them were either opiates that represented a theft and abuse problem (think junkies going through your trash for a fix), or were powerful antiviral or anticancer drugs that you probably don't want sitting around in your trash.

      A number of communities and private companies have set up drug takeback programs, either through pharmacies, hospitals, or household hazardous waste programs. They collect the drugs and recycle them or dispose of them properly. See http://www.takebacknetwork.com/monthly_feature_06_09.html for some basic links to drug takeback sites, or you can Google for them.

    4. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most filtered water is not better nor worse than tap water. A lot of the bottling facilities get their water from municipal water systems!

    5. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by badfish99 · · Score: 1

      That's right. All these prisoners who flush their medications down the toilet should be put in prison.
      Oh, wait...

    6. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pharmaceutical regulations require that if medication is prepared for a patient and he or she can't be reached, it's deemed undeliverable and must be destroyed. The leftovers are typically flushed down the toilet or incinerated.

      It should be illegal to flush medication down the toilet. Sewage often gets dumped unprocessed into waterways (especially when it is raining) and potent prescription medications can have significant effects when let loose in the world. It has gotten to the point where most drinking water in the USA not only has rocket fuel in it even after processing, but also antibiotics. If you don't think that will have serious repercussions, you're not thinking.

      The a priori assumption that there are serious repercussions actually demonstrates a lack of thinking. In just about everything you consume there are detectable levels of all sorts of compounds you don't necessary want ingest at higher dosages. Luckily, most compounds need to be at some threshold concentration before they have any harmful effects.

      It's amazing how worked up people get about "toxins" and the like. The people who marketed that scare are making a killing.

    7. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by Ironica · · Score: 1

      it's the prison administration flushing the meds, not the prisoners.

      --
      Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
    8. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by treat · · Score: 1

      Most filtered water is not better nor worse than tap water. A lot of the bottling facilities get their water from municipal water systems!

      Well the taste is certainly different. And if the tap water tastes so bad that I can't drink it, I'm probably not going to get a sufficient amount of water.

      And although our water system repeatedly tells us that brown muddy water is "safe to drink", I really find this impossible to believe.

    9. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Most filtered water is not better nor worse than tap water. A lot of the bottling facilities get their water from municipal water systems!

      He didn't day that she was drinking bottled water, but filtered water. I don't know about the OP, but generally when people say filtered water they mean that they buy a filter and run the water through the filter themselves. If they mean water from a bottling facility they usually say "bottled water".
      Additionally, I would like to know where you have seen anything saying that filtered water is basically the same as tap. I have seen lots of reports that bottled water is basically the same as tap (but then I knew that before they started doing all the reports).

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    10. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well the taste is certainly different. And if the tap water tastes so bad that I can't drink it, I'm probably not going to get a sufficient amount of water.

      And although our water system repeatedly tells us that brown muddy water is "safe to drink", I really find this impossible to believe.

      Municipal water tastes different because it has things like Chlorine in it. The "brown" parts tend to be things like sediments or sometimes a little bit of rust (you know, iron oxide?).

      Clear bottled water in many ways can have more crap in it then the "brown tap water". For example, lots of bottled water contains extras, like mercury and substances dissolved from the water bottle itself. The latter act like hormone blockers causing bad bad things to happen. Tap water has much stricter regulation regarding trace contaminants than bottled water. I think the limits are 10x higher for bottled water. You are better off drinking tap water than any bottled water.

      Hell, most bottled water is simple tap water that is extra filtered for impurities (you know, harmless sediments) and then ozonated to get rid of the chlorine. Then it gets put into a plastic bottle were it slowly dissolves the bottle. And that's not even touching pollution generated by the bottle itself.

      Seriously, 30 years ago if people see a person buying bottled water they would label them an idiot.

    11. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      Additionally, I would like to know where you have seen anything saying that filtered water is basically the same as tap. I have seen lots of reports that bottled water is basically the same as tap (but then I knew that before they started doing all the reports).

      Most bottled water is essentially filtered tap water, some more directly than others.

      I can very honestly say the water in my house is filtered - it goes through a house level filter I replace every three months. But that filter isn't as effective as a reverse osmosis system. Mine gets rid of quite a few things, but not all by any means.

      I'd say my water is 'essentially tap', it only goes through an activated charcoal filter and a softener*.

      *To save my appliances more than for taste.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    12. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by Mr.+Freeman · · Score: 1

      "Additionally, I would like to know where you have seen anything saying that filtered water is basically the same as tap."

      Look at the back of any aquifina bottle (and a few others). It says "from municipal water source" which is tap water.

      --
      -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
    13. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by Mr.+Freeman · · Score: 1

      Assumptions about serious repercussions don't demonstrate a lack of thinking, they demonstrate caution.

      Now, taking the precautions and failing to do any actual research to determine if such precautions are warranted is quite stupid. But we've already had problems with antibiotics creating antibiotic-resistant diseases (penicillin in the dog food/water/etc.), so assuming that antibiotics in the water are a bad thing is probably a good assumption.

      --
      -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
    14. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      "Additionally, I would like to know where you have seen anything saying that filtered water is basically the same as tap." Look at the back of any aquifina bottle (and a few others). It says "from municipal water source" which is tap water.

      That would be "bottled water" not "filtered water". See, if it doesn't say "filtered" it isn't filtered. Usually "filtered water" is actually run through a filter at the location where it is consumed, although some bottled water is also advertised as filtered.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    15. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by GWBasic · · Score: 1

      Flushing drugs down the toilet isn't the problem. The problem is that a large portion of many medications taken are simply peed away.

      The problem is that people aren't partying hard enough!

      --
      No, I will not work for your startup
    16. Re:Flushed down the toilet? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Flushing drugs down the toilet isn't the problem. The problem is that a large portion of many medications taken are simply peed away.

      Wrong. Those half-processed medications are distributed by their very nature. They are A problem, but they are not THE problem; concentrations of completely unprocessed drugs caused by flushing the tablets which are designed to stay together for a time before they break down, and which are designed to break down in the gut and not in the sewer, are far more serious. It's much like heavy metal contamination; over time small, distributed concentrations of heavy metals will actually be fixed by mycelium (makes me want to go re-watch Nausicaa.) But if you have heavy concentrations of the same material, then when it rains the water will wash concentrated streams of it into pockets and pools, which can then easily be concentrated in wildlife, which can then be eaten by other wildlife...

      Medications in sewage are primarily a threat to ocean life. It's not just medications; human Herpes viruses have been named as a possible culprit in the deaths of ocean reefs. Of course, we eat fish...

      Of course, if our sewage processing procedures weren't totally wrongheaded, we'd be processing human waste for fertilizer instead of half-treating it and polluting water with it. Then we'd have a whole other set of problems, and it would be even more important to stop people from flushing things that don't belong down the sink. One solution is to take the sewage lines away from non-city-dwellers and give them composting toilets. Most people don't seem to be able to use a sewage system responsibly, and honestly we don't really need one in most towns anyway.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  4. extra income for Corrections! by MickyTheIdiot · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Ok.. I am only being SEMI snarky here after thinking about this...

    They ought to make some extra revenue by selling the tech to Japan. While getting a doctor's Rx out of a central machine would probably tick off Americans, the Japanese would have no trouble with it at all... think of everything they buy through those machines already!

    1. Re:extra income for Corrections! by jack2000 · · Score: 1

      Actually I'd rather take my pills from a vending machine then having to haul my ass to a pharmacy.

    2. Re:extra income for Corrections! by kalirion · · Score: 1

      I'd be surprised if they don't already have this in Japan.

    3. Re:extra income for Corrections! by Jaysyn · · Score: 1

      We can call them Medbox instead of Redbox.

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
    4. Re:extra income for Corrections! by timeOday · · Score: 1
      Here's the company that makes the systems. I doubt they have anything against selling them to Japan, but then they probably have competitors selling them there, too.

      Having people stand around counting pills is just stupid. That's what this is, an automated pill-counter hooked up to a database so individualized medicine packets can be packaged at a high rate.

      No, it has nothing to do with vending machines where you would presumably put in some money and select a drug. All the people riffing on the intentionally misleading headline are just being sucked in, as usual.

    5. Re:extra income for Corrections! by Mr.+Freeman · · Score: 1

      You'd have to haul your ass just as far to get to the vending machine. Do you think they're going to let boxes with prescription drugs sit on every street corner?

      I sure as hell wouldn't want my drugs coming from a machine. I can't count the number of times I hit "mountain dew" and get "coke".
      If I get the wrong stuff at the pharmacy it's pretty simple "excuse me, here's the pills you gave, here's the prescription, they don't match".

      Now, wrong stuff at the vending machine:
      1. call phone number
      2. stay on hold
      3. talk to someone with an accent so thick I can't understand them
      4. Ship pills back somewhere
      5. Receive new pills about 3 weeks later, 2 weeks after I've run out of my current supply of medication.

      Now, that's IF you're not arrested for possession of controlled substances without a prescription.

      --
      -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
    6. Re:extra income for Corrections! by jack2000 · · Score: 1

      I'm more concerned with the have-to-talk-to-people bit then how far I'm going to go to get my meds. But i see now what you mean.

  5. Obligatory Futurama Reference by Drakkenmensch · · Score: 1

    *slips 1000$ bill in "Refreshing Crack!" vending machine*

    *crack tube stays stuck in vending machine coil*

    "No! Don't leave me hanging man!!!"

    1. Re:Obligatory Futurama Reference by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 4, Funny

      slips 1000$ bill in "Refreshing Crack!" vending machine

      I was about to comment that a rock will only set you back $20, but then I remembered how much a vending machine charged me for a soda recently.

    2. Re:Obligatory Futurama Reference by Scotland+Tom · · Score: 1

      I had a feeling someone would beat me to this. Though the quote is, "Come on, man! Don't hold out on me like this!" And I'm not sure it's $1000 because in a later episode when everyone gets their $200 tax refunds the same guy says "No cheap crack houses for me no more!" and walks up to a crack mansion.

      Me? A Futurama geek? Noooo...

    3. Re:Obligatory Futurama Reference by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The tax refund is $300 not $200. You lose your Futurama geek card.

  6. Two words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "pyxis medstation"

    Google it up. This isn't a new idea on the part of the prison system.

    1. Re:Two words by quantumplacet · · Score: 1

      yea, except the pyxis is designed to be used by doctors, not patients, not a small difference.

  7. You'll need... by rossdee · · Score: 1

    A truck full of quarters... Unless it only dispenses generics.

  8. Great idea! by Mephistro · · Score: 0
    An illegal drugs vending machine would make sense in a prison, so the inmates don't have to put up with all those clockers, traffickers, ....

    Oh, wait!...

  9. Re:Wait to the "think of the children" crowd hears by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mac forums are ----------------->

    That way.

  10. Not the First by Fieryphoenix · · Score: 1

    A few months ago I went to an independent local urgent care clinic. They had two drug vending machines in lieu of their own pharmacy. Creeped me out.

    1. Re:Not the First by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1

      If you look behind the counter at some pharmacies(I'd assume the larger chain outfits are leading the way on this; but I'm not sure), you'll see that they are using what is basically a vending machine(minus the money collector bit and general armoring, since it's behind the counter). It feels a bit impersonal, and it won't do for patients that need a consult with the pharmacist; but for the nth refill of somebody's routine blood pressure pills or SSRIs, or whatever, a machine is probably both faster and more accurate than a human.

  11. Already here in Canada by ad0n · · Score: 1

    There's a trial here in Toronto with a similar technology. Automated delivery of prescriptions moves a step closer in Ontario

  12. Give convicts pot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you will make them lazy and there will be less fights... what are we worried about giving this plant to people who are locked up? (yes, i'm completely serious)

    1. Re:Give convicts pot by stickrnan · · Score: 1

      I think I know a few people who would like to be incarcerated under such a system.

  13. This is for criminals? by NickyGotz22 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why not just label the vending machine "Pinata" and wait for all the outstanding resident of these prisons to spend their mass quantities of free time play whack-a-mole on this baby till it rains pharmaceutical goodness. Brilliant

    --
    Test me and I will chronicle your pain - The Archivist (Diablo 3)
    1. Re:This is for criminals? by MickyTheIdiot · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I would guess that these machines are probably NOT located in the game room, exercise room, or other common area where prisoners congregate. Even if secure room by themselves all you need is a normal guard to watch, which I am guessing is a lot cheaper than putting a pharmacist on staff.

    2. Re:This is for criminals? by Psyborgue · · Score: 1

      Insightful and funny.

    3. Re:This is for criminals? by SparkleMotion88 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Riiiight... You can achieve security by having a poorly paid guard keep an eye on the valuable prescription drugs in the prison.

    4. Re:This is for criminals? by Khyber · · Score: 1

      "Even if secure room by themselves all you need is a normal guard to watch, which I am guessing is a lot cheaper than putting a pharmacist on staff."

      Your assignment for the week is to watch seasons 1-6 of Oz and come back with a full 5,000 word essay on why your sentence wouldn't apply.

      And before you say "Oz is just HBO TV" I've been through the prison system and Oz is pretty goddamned close to what Parchman, MS is like.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    5. Re:This is for criminals? by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      Prison guards, on average, aren't poorly paid at all.

      They aren't mall rent a cops.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    6. Re:This is for criminals? by LiENUS · · Score: 1

      Even if secure room by themselves all you need is a normal guard to watch, which I am guessing is a lot cheaper than putting a pharmacist on staff.

      I dunno what prison's you've been to. But here they have a normal officer hand out the medication, not a pharmacist.

    7. Re:This is for criminals? by LiENUS · · Score: 1

      Prison guards, on average, aren't poorly paid at all. They aren't mall rent a cops.

      HAHA, what prisons are you talking about?

    8. Re:This is for criminals? by malkir · · Score: 1

      However they are, on average, about as useful (or useless) as mall rent-a-cops. Unless you've dealt with one in action, you wouldn't understand.

    9. Re:This is for criminals? by Firethorn · · Score: 1

      Pretty much all of them? Prison guard isn't a minimum wage job; mall security pretty much IS, at least in my area.

      --
      I don't read AC A human right
    10. Re:This is for criminals? by LiENUS · · Score: 1

      We make about 12$ an hour starting. and we're one of the best paid prisons in the hour I make more as a sgt than my friend did as a captain at his old job.

  14. Great by frovingslosh · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What could possibly go wrong?

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    1. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That some interns could buy quality drugs instead of something that has been up the HIV infected arse of some whore? Be them Morphine or Insuline, the intern needs it. I don't get what do you get from making prisoners suffer in the US if you don't like them just kill them quick. Instead you give them prison rape AIDS and drug addiction. If they ever leave the jail alive, they won't be able to get any job or live near to anywhere children have been seen. If I was an American ex-convict the first thing I would do after leaving jail would be steal some guns and kill a few fellow citizens until some cops ended my suffering.

  15. the title by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ah, the ever amazing english language, where you use the same word for cold medicine as you do for cocaine.
    Maybe the title should have used "Medication vending machines" instead... to cut down on the trolling.

    1. Re:the title by badfish99 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, because it's really confusing when we get mixed up between (say) heroin, a wicked and dangerous drug, and diamorphine, a useful medicine. Or between medical marijuana and the addictive stuff. Or between codeine and cough mixture. Or...

    2. Re:the title by Wowlapalooza · · Score: 1

      Point? Determining whether a given substance should be restricted or not, is obviously a line-drawing exercise, and reasonable people may disagree with the determinations one way or the other.

      But, the majority of prescription-only substances are not psychotropic in nature, and the majority are not particularly susceptible to addiction. In most cases, the substances are restricted because the dosage needs to be controlled carefully (because of toxicity-level concerns) or because there is a high likelihood of bad interactions with other substances. So the Powers That Be want a trained physician involved with each and every course of treatment using that particular substance.

      And the fact remains that "drug" is a horribly ill-defined term, and carries with it far too much emotional baggage.

      Note that IANAMP (MP = medical professional)

  16. Instead of wasting their money on vending machines by 3waygeek · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Maybe the department could spring for some more coroners & staff. My brother lived in SB county until he passed away in May from an apparent heart attack. I say apparent because we still, 3 months later, don't have a death certificate, even though an autopsy was done and the body cremated within a few days of his death.

  17. Interesting Product by bosef1 · · Score: 1

    This is a fairly neat concept, and it seems like it would have applications beyond the prison system. One idea I had would be to put something similar in retirement homes or communities. Obviously it wouldn't work for people who are bedridden or senile, but it would probably be great for older people who can't drive down to a pharmacy, due to bad eyesight or limited mobility to get pills, but who can still walk down the hall or down the block. Since it's a vending machine, you can come when you want to get the pills, instead of having to queue up at 10am each day for medicine call. This would help with keeping people independent and keep morale up. The system could track if you've missed picking up medication and alert someone, or it could prevent you accidently getting a second dose because it knows you already picked up medication. And the retirement community or nursing home wouldn't need to have a nurse or pharmacist on duty all the time (though they may want to for other reasons).

    I am not a shill, but it also reminded me of this tool vending machine from Fastenal, http://www.fastenal.com/web/services.ex?action=SmartStore.

  18. Re:Wait to the "think of the children" crowd hears by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    +1 insightful

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    *sigh*

  19. Old News... by clickety6 · · Score: 1

    There are drug vending machines all over the US dispensing drug containing items like coffee, coca cola, red bull, mountain dew,...

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    ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
  20. already being done in nursing homes by trybywrench · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I work as a software engineer for a mid sized pharmacy chain. These things are pretty common wherever there's a large, consistent, patient population. Nursing homes use them as well as hospices, it's like an automated prescription filling robot where the rx is verified by a pharmacist at the very last step.

    Most mail delivery pharmacies use them too, the concept is called "central fill" where pharmacies transmit rx's electronic to a central facility that has a few very high volume filling robots. The pharmacists there verify like 60 to 70 rx's per hour. You'd think pharmacists hate an assembly line job but they're actually the most sought after jobs. No sick, pissed off patients to deal with.

    --
    I came to the datacenter drunk with a fake ID, don't you want to be just like me?
    1. Re:already being done in nursing homes by Rich0 · · Score: 1

      The real irony is that these kinds of places need pharmacists at all. The machines should be able to just fill and check their own prescriptions. If a patient has any potential drug conflicts then the system would flag them for review by a pharmacist, of course, but that would happen before prescriptions are filled. It seems like the only reason we have pharmacists in these sorts of places is due to outdated regulations. No pharmacist was involved in getting the right pills to the pharmacy, so why is one needed to get the right pills to the patient?

    2. Re:already being done in nursing homes by trybywrench · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The issue is you need someone to do a sanity check and make sure no one mistakenly filled a hopper meant for Children's Tylenol with, say, Oxycontin. In the case of drugs coming to the pharmacy, our pharmacists physically examine each pill before it goes into the vial when they're counting them out. This is the drug wholesaler sanity check.

      --
      I came to the datacenter drunk with a fake ID, don't you want to be just like me?
    3. Re:already being done in nursing homes by Rich0 · · Score: 1

      So, suppose you have a machine that takes a picture of the pill and compares it to a library? Even better, why not have manufacturers print barcodes on as many pills as possible? Pills also have specifications for weight and color, and these can be very easy to test.

      Maybe you also have a two-person check process every time you fill a hopper as well.

      And how does the Pharmacist know that the pill that matches the normal color and shape of the pills that were prescribed actually contains the drug on the bottle label and not something completely different? The answer isn't a whole bunch of pharmacists watching the pills being made - rather there are lots of process controls at every step to make sure the right stuff ends up in the pills.

      I don't suggest that there isn't a need for process quality control. What I question is the need for people with degrees and licenses in pharmacy (at least for 100% of all orders).

  21. food vending machines by DaMattster · · Score: 1

    In addition to drug vending machines, try food vending machines. At San Quentin, one of the most dangerous times for a correctional officer is meal time on the high security wing. Officers are assaulted and have had feces thrown at them. This is a great opportunity for robotics to be introduced. Have a robotic cart motor through the cell blocks and push the food trays into the inmates' food slot. At the end, it comes back for collection. Use a remote camera to determine that all dishes are returned with the tray. If the inmate tries to damage the robot, they get a nasty electric shock. Bring in the swat team if the inmate refuses to return everything. Ultimately, this should make things safer for staff.

    1. Re:food vending machines by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I prefer just beating the snot out of them. This is prison. It's not supposed to be a happy place. You're there to learn/relearn respect for the law. What happened to blind justice?

    2. Re:food vending machines by Wowlapalooza · · Score: 1

      There's no "respect for law" if it only consists of capricious infliction of violence by sadistic corrections officers. You, Mr. Anonymous Coward, appear to have fallen into the mental trap of considering people to be something less than human just because they wear the label of "convicted criminal". Never mind that what is considered "criminal" at any particular time is itself rather arbitrary and often the result of political expedience/opportunism. Never mind that punishment is only considered to be one of the justifications for incarceration (other justifications including rehabilitation and isolation from the general populace)

      As for "blind justice", that refers to a principle of neutrality; I'm not sure how it would apply to your (apparent) hunger for inflicting unnecessary pain and suffering on your fellow man.

  22. Bad Article Headline/Summary by Wowlapalooza · · Score: 1

    Nice job using the ambiguous, emotionally-laden term "drug" in the headline to describe perfectly-normal medications that just so happen to be used by prison inmates, knowing that the immediate knee-jerk reaction of most people when they seem a conjunction of "drug" and "criminal" that something illicit and dangerous must be occurring.

    And do we really need the snarky, condescending tone of "If you guessed X you win a prize!" in the article summary? The inevitable, predictable "whatcouldpossiblygowrong" tag is more than sufficient to spread the FUD in this particular context...

  23. Be afwaid... be vewy afwaid! by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    One of the buttons is labeled "Viagra"!

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  24. In that case, you really should have the source... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not a problem if you don't have a source when you post something on the Internet. However, if your wife makes big decisions (IE: "I won't drink/cook with/whatever tap water for the next 9 months") which complicate the life a bit and probably cost some money...

    She should have made herself very familiar with the studies. IE: Not the "There was some study like that..." but be able to know exactly when was the study made, what were the results, what kind of amounts are we talking about... And in my opinion, so should you.

    Anyways, I have difficulties grasping this... If I'm reading this correctly (and I might not, not my first language, etc.), the levels rise massive amounts (to 50-100x the normal) during pregnancy anyways so if they cause little to no effect in normal life, they should have much less so during pregnancy. Unless of course it is some other type of progesterone? Did the study specify? And did it say how much (if any) less of the chemical can be found in filtered water?

    So... To us, that doesn't really explain anything at all. I hope that you have delved into the matter a lot more than this, though.

  25. So how much would it cost to OD on OTC meds? by crovira · · Score: 1

    This is another brilliant piece of crap thought up by people who don't think of the implications PERIOD.

    If it took me a second to come up with a scenario, I would grant a prisoner with nothing better to do all day to come up with a complete escape plan once he's outside the prison on the way to a hospital.

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
    1. Re:So how much would it cost to OD on OTC meds? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure the people who's job it is didn't think about what they were doing at all. Just like I'm sure you know exactly what the procedures are surrounding the operation and dispensing of drugs from the machine in the article.

  26. Re:Instead of wasting their money on vending machi by Ironica · · Score: 1

    The vending machines are cheaper than the people. That's the whole point.

    (Or at least, that's what the marketing materials say. They probably don't have sufficient personnel to do a proper cost-benefit analysis, or evaluate the product for suitability.)

    --
    Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
  27. Re:Instead of wasting their money on vending machi by Khyber · · Score: 1

    It's not SB County's fault. SB has had some bad budget cuts recently. I learned a couple of weeks ago that if I *REALLY* wanted to all it would take is a fully-loaded glock .40 to take out the ENTIRE active police force in SB and Redlands. Redlands only has a total of 4 cops working at any given time, SB only has about 8. Assuming I have a double-stack 15 round magazine for the Glock .40, one shot one kill is all it takes.

    You probably haven't gotten a DC yet because of the budget cuts. Just keep pressing them for it.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  28. Loss of Privilege by Dareth · · Score: 1

    Imagine what the inmates would do to anyone who made them "lose" this privilege!

    --

    I only look human.
    My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
  29. medications dispenser by rs232 · · Score: 1

    "The end product was essentially a vending machine that links to correctional facility databases and dispenses prescription medications"

    We've already got that here. It's known as the NHS, only the 'medications dispensers' are called doctors and it's they that do the typing.
    --

    Bill Gates' hurricane stopper

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    davecb5620@gmail.com
  30. The most amazing part by Mr+44 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved $3.8 million for the project, which includes development, implementation and system costs. However, Fillman said the sheriff's department completed the task $500,000 under budget.

    The last paragraph is the most notable part of the whole article, as far as I'm concerned!

  31. Congratulations! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You have re-invented the Pyxis Medstation! It's only been around for at least ten years.

  32. Now if only it could say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Welcome to the Circus of Values!"

  33. Biometrics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How does the vending machine know who it is dispensing the drugs to?

  34. not a new idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    my company has been doing this in nursing homes for a few years. we have actually looked into going into prisons with our system. http://www.newdaypharmacy.net/

  35. Casino royal by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 1

    If the casinos were in charge of making the vending machines, I would say that we have a chance...but it wont be long before the inmates carry special hand made tazers (with 9v batteries) to give jolts to trick the machine into giving whatever the randomness of the chip is a prescription.

    I also take it that this should not include the inmates that are too weak to actually go get their meds??? Ask another inmate to get your meds, might not only get them stolen from you, but a serious beating for implying someone as being your biatch

    1. Re:Casino royal by BitZtream · · Score: 1

      Yea, cause county jail is full of hardcore criminals.

      You've seen one too many tv shows.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    2. Re:Casino royal by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 1

      When was the last time you went to county jail....can you even say you know what
      it looks like inside???
      You can still have a population of just under 1000 depending on the county,
      as state is more in the 10s of thousands.
      As for sending voltage through the machine,
      read up a bit on KENO and one arm bandit machines and
      how certain would be hax0rs were getting the machine to pay out by giving
      jolts at the right time in the cycle...!