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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.'"

17 of 97 comments (clear)

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

    I expected Heroin/Crack dispensers reading the headline.

    Left disappointed.

  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 LordLimecat · · Score: 4, Informative

      Thats not what a Catch-22 is.

    2. 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.

  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!
  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!

  5. 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.

  6. 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 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.

  7. 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.
  8. 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.

  9. 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 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?
  10. 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...

  11. 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!