It talks! Never guess what's inside that pill bottle again

By David Faucheux

I recently came upon an interesting announcement in the Braille Forum. Having struggled at times with a multitude of pill bottles, I can appreciate some newly introduced talking products. Yes, often pills come in different shapes and colors, in capsule and tablet form. But sometimes, different pills feel alike. Braille labels are not easily placed on small pill bottles and do not provide sufficient room for much information. Also, in this day and age, Braille literacy has declined alarmingly. I was told recently by a contact at the NLS regional library in Louisiana that approximately 200 patrons out of some 7,000 patrons use Braille.

A solution

MediVoxRX makes products that might might address the above problems and appeal to doctors, pharmacists, and those persons who for whatever reason can not read conventional print. As I understand it, there is a recorder, price about $55 retail, that is used to record prescription information onto a disposable prescription bottle. Each bottle costs $5. Several insurance providers offer this product at no cost to their members.

The company contact e-mailed me the following suggestions:

Click on the section marked “See Rex on NBC” for a film clip of a blind patient using the bottle which is provided at no cost to Kaiser Permanente HMO members. Please click on “Click here to learn more about Rex” for a demonstration of how the bottle may be recorded at home. Also please click on “Hear Rex talk to you” for a sample of the computer-recorded voice.

Not very long after, I also found this announcement in the January issue of the Matilda Ziegler Magazine. Seems talking pill bottles are the new, new thing. Would that one could dispense with the need for a separate recorder unit and simply use the bottle like one of those picture frames or greeting cards that let you record a digital message directly onto the medium in question!

Talking prescription labels

Blind and visually impaired patients can be at risk because they cannot read the contents and instructions on their medication.

ScripTalk uses smart-label and speech synthesis technologies to read out this information. This new product works by connecting a microchip to a paper-thin antenna on the bottle's label. A handheld unit, which costs $325, can read the label as many times as necessary. These labels are available at any pharmacy that retails the ScripTalk device. When you request a Talking Label, the pharmacy prints and programs the label and places it on your prescription. Kohll's Pharmacy and Homecare of Omaha, NE, is one pharmacy that offers the labels free of charge, provided prescriptions are filled through its pharmacy or mail-order service. Call 866-393- 1404.

IMAGINE That!