High-tech Pill Dispensers Eyed for Curtailing Opioid Abuse

Imagine supplying opioid drugs to injured workers through a device that resembles a high-tech Pez dispenser. The device would dispense pills only in quantities and at times that the physician has prescribed. The device would also check the user’s fingerprint before dispensing the pills, to make sure they’re going to the person to whom they were prescribed. And only the pharmacist would have the key to get into the tamper-resistant container. Such a device was unveiled this year by engineering students at Johns Hopkins University. With further development, it could join devices al...