The FDA Has Approved Smart Pills That Track When Patients Take Their Meds

The FDA has approved America’s first digital pill. The tablets, called Abilify MyCite, are an antipsychotic which can be used to treat schizophrenia and some cases of bipolar disorder. But unlike a regular pill, they contain a small ingestible sensor to keep tabs on when they’re taken.

When swallowed, the sensor in the pill registers against a smart patch worn by the patient, which transmits data to a phone. In turn—if the patient chooses—that information can be shared with medics, caregivers, or family members to track whether a patient is taking their drugs.

That could be particularly useful for elderly people with faltering memories, for example. Indeed, it’s hoped that the technology will go on to reduce the bill caused by non-adherence to prescriptions, which for the U.S. has been estimated at up to $100 billion per year.

It’s a seminal moment for digital medicine: we’ve written about such pills for at least a decade, so their approval has been a long time coming. Still, not everyone’s happy about the news. Speaking to the New York Times, psychiatrist Peter Kramer warned that there are privacy concerns related to the technology, calling digital drugs “a potentially coercive tool.”