FDA Proudly Marches Out New Pills Embedded with Tracking Technology

Privacy is soon to become a thing of the past. Government institutions have the power to track your every move and make sure you’re swallowing the correct combination of mind-numbing pharmaceutical drugs.

On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration approved Abilify MyCite, a pill that contains a sensor that detects when patients have swallowed it. Abilify is used to treat schizophrenia, some forms of bipolar disorder and is also used  as an additional treatment for depression. The new “digital” pill is the first of its kind to be approved, and can track if patients are taking their medications when they’re supposed to.

Here’s how it works: When the pill’s sensor, known as an Ingestible Event Marker, comes into contact with stomach juices, it sends a message—with the date and time of the ingestion, as well as physiological data such as the user’s activity level—to a wearable patch. The patch then communicates that data to a mobile app which can be accessed (if the patient allows) by his or her doctor, caretakers, or family members.

What is even more alarming is that the government has been steadily advancing invasive technology under the guise of ‘public health’. Who trusts the government to not abuse such powers? If they were so concerned about improving public health why has cancer treatments or prognosis not advanced in the last 30 years?

Although the Abilify MyCite is the first digital pill approved by the FDA, it’s not the only connected medical product. Other technologies include devices that can tell if a patient has had an epileptic seizure, taken a fall, or can monitor blood glucose in diabetics. As more devices monitor patients’ behavior and collect data, experts see the potential for better care, as well as privacy risks.

Proponents of this technology claim patients are prescribed too many pills to keep track of without institutional monitoring and surveillance.

According to Avitzur, if digital pills do eventually prove to help compliance, they could be helpful for patients with complicated health care regimens. “The more medications a person is on, the more difficult it is to comply properly with treatment, for example, taking the right pill at the right time,” she says.

But a good portion of the population sees this as a bit alarming. Courts can already order people to take medications, doctors can order certain medications, and soon it will be mandated and checked by the permanent monitoring band on your wrist.

Justin Brookman, the director of consumer privacy and technology policy for Consumers Union, the policy and action arm of Consumer Reports, has this say about the new pill tracking technology.

“But I worry that patients might be compelled to share this information with insurers or employers. Will premiums or employee contributions go up if you miss a dose, or if a signal isn’t picked up?”

The real question is are people going to be motivated enough by this information to do something or just sit back in disbelief as all the tools needed by the left to create their Orwellian future is raised?

Even Bill Gates is on board with where the future is headed when it comes to micro-chipping and other public health measures such as forced birth control implants in young girls.

Source: Consumer Reports

Image: Proteus