1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to medication information and alarm devices that are programmed with medication information and timing sequences for the proper administration of the medication contained within.
2. Description of Prior Art
Prior art devices of this type have relied on a wide variety of different medication systems that provide audible and visual alarms to the patients to indicate proper dosage times as well as last access time to the medication container. This type of information and indicators are needed considering the number of patients that are infirmed and take multiple drugs which may inter-react with one another if not taken in accordance with prescription instructions. While medication bottles have labels stating the patient's name, type of drug, dosage and any associated warnings, many patients are still unaware of the contents of their prescription container. This is especially true for the elderly and infirmed or moderately mentally disabled patients. It is therefore a major problem with these individuals to comply with their treatment directions. Some patients cannot readily understand and act on the label information or alternately they forget to take their medication at the proper time or skip a dosage which may be critical to the effectiveness of the medication.
Prior art patents have attempted to respond to this problem with a number of medication alarms and visual reminders, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,448,541, 4,572,403, 5,347,435 and 5,495,961.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,541 a medical timer apparatus is disclosed having a magnetic and pressure activated switch that once activated indicates a timed alarm unit on the medication container. This device is activated by the patients gripping the container or opening it, resetting the time to the next dosage alarm required.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,403 is directed to a timed dispensing system in which multiple dosages of medication can initially be placed and that are accessible only at the appropriate time and the appropriate amount.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,347,453 and 5,495,961 disclose and claim portable programmable medication alarms and proper dosage use requirements. These devices use audible alarm signals and generate graphic representation of the prescribed administration time, dosage amount and medical instructions. The devices are programmable by a central computer through an interface device.