According to a Nov. 13 New York Times article, Japanese-based Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company recently received Food and Drug Administration approval for a psychiatric drug featuring a digital tracking device. The pill is designed with a sensor that is activated upon contact with stomach fluids. A signal is then sent to a patch on the skin that records the time before it is transferred to a mobile application that allows users to enter mood, amount of sleep and other data. Some have already expressed concern about this technology, calling it a "Biomedical Big Brother." What do you think of this invention and does it seem beneficial?

Prof. Cindy Thomas (Heller)

Poor adherence to prescriptions is a major healthcare concern.  For years, providers, insurers and health systems have worked on methods to encourage patients to take their medications as directed, with varying degrees of success — patient and provider education and support, lower out-of-pocket costs, improved medications with fewer side effects, reminder calls, apps, and financial and other incentives.   So this new technology addresses an important gap. However, like all new technologies, digital abilify raises concerns: foremost, patients should be fully informed of all potential implications, and have the ability to opt in and opt out. Also, ongoing evaluation is necessary, because pre-market testing is always limited, and new problems often emerge once technologies are used more widely. Nevertheless, while we should be vigilant and ask many questions, it is important to encourage development and acceptance of novel technological approaches to treatment challenges such as this while ensuring patient autonomy and protections from adverse impact.   
Prof. Cindy Thomas (Heller) is an associate dean of research. 

Sabrina Carrero ’19
To begin with, this drug can be seen as a stepping stone in furthering medical technology and can provide answers potentially to mental health issues. Also, by connecting to an application, it allows the user to access their records at their convenience and perhaps give the option to track their progress since taking the pill. The user's psychiatrist can also track the patient's statistics and adjust their treatment plan if needed. Nonetheless, a breach of privacy can occur depending on who is able to have access to the information. Rules should be in place between the user, pharmaceutical and insurance companies about who is able to acquire this confidential data and how often are they able to view it. Also, it's possible that an outsider can hack into the application and steal patient information. Additionally, I don't know how many people are comfortable with having private information on a device they use on a daily basis. Overall, I think this drug definitely moves the field of science in the right direction but there need to be guidelines regarding data access.  
Sabrina Carrero ’19 is president of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. She is also majoring in Biology. 

R Matthews ’19
Biomedical ethics is a very interesting but delicate field. What is body autonomy? Of course biomedical ethics is a very important and delicate field, but I'm more interested in this technology as a whole. It absolutely blows my mind that we are able to even do something like this, and I wonder how we can use this technological/medical breakthrough and apply it elsewhere? I think this is the true beginning of connection between humans and technology. I completely understand why some people feel as though this is some sort of "Biomedical Big Brother" because you have to consider the data and information being captured and stored by this product. Who controls that? Because as far as I know, it's not the individual user and I'm sure that's written somewhere in the fine print. I also question the advantages over taking this pill as opposed to existing health trackers that are less invasive. If the trade-off here is having more accurate data, then we certainly need to consider that as well.
R Matthews ’19 is a Computer Science and African and Afro-American Studies double major. 

Abraham Cheloff ’18
As with every new innovation, there are going to be concerns as to whether it will be used for good, or used for evil. I'm sure many of us walk around with our iPhones, Apple Watches and Fitbits which casually track our steps, heart rate and more, and then transfer it to our smartphone for our viewing pleasure. We coney some level of trust that this is all the app is doing. That Apple isn't secretly tracking GPS data along with heart rate to find out where we exercise, for instance. The same guidelines follow here. Giving healthcare professionals an inside look into medication compliance will help them make smarter and more accurate medical decisions, but before this can be done we need to get to the point where we can trust that this is all the information will be used for. The medication itself could help doctors tremendously, but just as we see breaches of health related data increasing every year, we need to be sure that our information technology systems have the security to handle this feat.
Abraham Cheloff ’18 is a Biology Undergraduate Departmental Representative. He is also a teacher’s assistant for General Biology Lab and does undergraduate research in the Miller Lab.