Drug & Device News

The Food and Drug Administration on June 21 announced its approval of a new product designed to dispense medications to patients at home. The Electronic Medication Management Assistant (EMMA), to be sold by INRange Systems, is a computerized medication box that is to be used under a medical provider's supervision and is designed to help patients remember when they should take their medications and how much they should take. The EMMA unit plugs into a standard outlet and has two-way communication software that allows health care providers to remotely manage medications stored in it by changing the time they are to be taken or their dosage. When it is time to take a drug, the box emits a sound to alert the patient. The patient then goes to the box, activates it, and the proper medication is dropped into a delivery tray. The device also gives the health care provider access to a history showing each time the patient has taken the medication from the machine, although it cannot tell the provider if the pills were actually ingested.