Medicament dispensing station

Details Medicament dispensing station Medicament dispensing station

2000-05-30

2001-11-20

Le, Thien M. (Department: 2876)

Registers

Systems controlled by data bearing records

C235S462010

Reexamination Certificate

active

06318630

ABSTRACT:

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable
MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of prescription dispensing systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Errors in filling prescriptions are infrequent, but they do occur. Such errors can lead to serious consequences for the patient.
One source of error is that the incorrect supply container is used for filling the prescription. Another source of error is that the labels for two different prescriptions may be switched inadvertently. When this occurs, two patients receive one another's prescription.
When these errors occur, the patient may not be familiar with the medicament's appearance. Thus, even though the prescription package contains the wrong medicament, the patient is unaware of this because the patient does not know what the appearance of the proper medicament should be and, therefore, the patient takes the medicament anyway. The problem may be compounded if the prescription label is printed in a language that the patient does not understand. That is, the label may be printed in a language that the patient cannot read.
Another source of error is the failure to provide the patient with the proper auxiliary information, such as conditions, warnings, and specific instructions for use, pertinent to the medicament.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention solves the prior art problems discussed above and provides a distinct advance in the state of the art. More particularly, the medicament dispensing station hereof verifies that the correct supply container has been accessed for filling the prescription, provides medicament indicia on the prescription label representative of a physical attribute of the medicament, and enables the printing of prescription data on a prescription label in a selected second language.
The preferred medicament dispensing apparatus includes a computer with a bar code reader and a printer coupled therewith. When filling a prescription from a supply container of a medicament, the bar code reader scans the bar code on the container and a computer compares the bar code data with prescription data to determine a match before activating the printer to print a prescription label for the prescription.
The preferred apparatus also includes an attribute database and a language translation database. The computer activates the printer to print medicament indicia on the prescription label representative of a physical attribute of the medicament including a word description and also an image. The computer is also operable to prompt the printer to print prescription data in a second language. On the prescription label or on a second label, the computer is also operable to print the auxiliary information pertinent to the medicament on the prescription label. Other preferred aspects of the present invention are disclosed herein.


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