Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Article handling
Reexamination Certificate
1996-11-01
2001-05-01
Gordon, Paul P. (Department: 2121)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Specific application, apparatus or process
Article handling
C700S214000, C700S215000, C700S235000, C700S236000, C283S070000, C283S081000, C283S101000, C221S002000, C221S004000, C221S005000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06226564
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for dispensing drugs.
More particularly, the invention relates to a drug dispensation method and apparatus which significantly reduces the likelihood that a nurse or other health care personnel will inadvertently administer the wrong drug to a patient.
In the U.S. patients daily die or suffer serious injury due to the inadvertent administration of the wrong medication. Some typical circumstances which result in the administration of the wrong medication are that a nurse misreads the label on a bottle of medicine, that a nurse mistakenly assumes that the bottle she picks up is the same bottle she used the day earlier, that a nurse does not realize that the company selling a particular pharmaceutical has put the pharmaceutical in a new different colored bottle similar to a bottle the nurse is used to opening when using another different pharmaceutical, and, that a nurse has the proper medication but administers it incorrectly.
In addition to the injury suffered by a patient due to the administration of an improper medicament, the well-meaning and dedicated nurse who mistakenly causes the injury inevitably experiences guilt and mental distress, both on a personal basis and as a result of litigation which invariably follows such an incident.
A variety of approaches are available in the prior art which attempt to alert a busy nurse or other medical personnel to the type of medicament being administered to a patient.
Some prior art procedures color code injectable medications. For example, lidocaine can be colored red, epinephrine blue, atropine yellow, calcium green, benadryl orange, etc. Or, heart stimulants can be colored red, heart depressants blue, antihistamines green, blood clotters purple, blood thinners yellow, analgesics orange, etc. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,224 to Souryal.
Other prior art apparatus makes the lid of a container a particular color to identify the type of pills in the container. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,757,994 to Skoetsch.
Still other prior art apparatus colors an intravenous tube holder to correlate to the medicine being administered. For example, if the holder is red, this can indicate that the liquid being administered is critical. If the holder is blue, this might indicate that the liquid being administered is benign. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,246 to Scott et al.
Yet other prior art apparatus uses a colored stick-on tab to correlate an intravenous tube or bottle with a label which is the same color and includes a written description of the fluid being administered and of the site on the patient's body at which the fluid enters the body. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,429 to Feldstein.
Yet still other prior art apparatus colors the lid of a pill container to indicate the number of times each day the medication is to be taken by a patient. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,180 to Humphrey et al.
Other prior art apparatus provides a container with colors which indicate the time a drug is administered and indicate the patient's room number. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,222 to Romick.
Still other prior art apparatus provides medication canisters which carry pressure sensitive, colored patches for identifying the time(s) of day that the medication in the canisters is to be administered to a patient. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,024 to Campbell.
Yet other prior art apparatus provides a medication administration time chart including colored symbols for each medication on the chart. For example, penicillin can be associated with a red star and motrin with a yellow circle. If penicillin needs to be administered to a patient at 1:00 pm, a red star is placed under 1:00 pm on the chart. If motrin needs to be administered to a patient at 2:00 am, a yellow circle is placed under 2:00 am on the chart. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,702 to Mayfield.
Yet still other prior art apparatus provides a tray with compartments for drugs. A particular drug is placed in a compartment along with one or more colored labels. Each particular color of label indicates a time of day that the drug is administered. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,627,122 to Garbe, Jr.
Other prior art apparatus provides a cassette for dispensing pill packets. The cassette is provided with a color to indicate the time intervals at which the pills are given to a patient. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,054,343 to Heyland.
Still other prior art apparatus provides a patient tray with colors on the edge of the tray which indicate the time of day particular drugs are administered to a patient. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,268 to Colver.
Yet other prior art apparatus provides a pill container having a colored cap which indicates the frequency with which a pill is administered to a patient. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,032 to Rollman.
The various prior art apparatus noted above is believed to suffer from several disadvantages. First, the prior art apparatus is not accepted because none of the apparatus appears to have been used in any hospital, much less by most hospitals. Second, the prior art apparatus often appears impractical. For example, coloring injectable fluids is difficult because there are only a limited number of colors. The prior art apparently does not disclose any proposal to color pills to identify the drugs in the pills, likely because there are thousands of different types of pills, many of which already are blue, yellow, red, or some other color. Third, the prior art concerned with identifying the time of day that a medicament is administered is not believed pertinent to the problem addressed herein, which is preventing the administration of the incorrect drug. Fourth, identifying a pharmaceutical with a color is ineffective because of the existence of many colored items which are encountered in health care institutions.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved method and apparatus for enabling nurses and other health care professionals to rapidly confirm without reading a label whether the drug in a container is the drug that the nurse wishes to administer to a patient.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for dispensing drugs to be administered to a patient.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for dispensing drugs which does not rely on a single color to correctly dispense a drug.
Another object of the invention is to provide a drug dispensing method and apparatus which can readily be adapted as a standard for use for all health care personnel in a hospital or other health care institution.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide an improved drug dispensing method and apparatus which provides drug dispensing information in a pre-defined visually recognizable fixed sequence.
Yet still another object of the invention is to provide an improved drug dispensing method and apparatus which is pictorial and does not require the reading and comprehension of alphanumeric characters.
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Gordon Paul P.
Nissle P.C. Tod R.
Patel Ramesh
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