AU2232800A - Administering device - Google Patents

Description

1 ADMINISTERING DEVICE The present invention relates to administering devices for drugs, medicines and the like and, in particular, to an administering device which can only be accessed at appropriately timed intervals whereby single doses of the drugs, medicines and the like are able to be administered each time the device is accessed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Methadone is a well recognised and successful form of treatment for many opiate dependent individuals, however, there are some disadvantages to methadone treatment programmes. Daily attendance can prove disruptive to normalisation of clients attempting to address their drug misuse problems. In order to overcome the problem of daily :attendance, clients are currently allowed takeaway doses. While for the majority of clients this is successful, some clients may ingest these doses on the same day, or sell these doses on the "grey" or "black" markets. This lessens the effectiveness of such programmes and increases the risk to the community.

••go 15 Other complaints regarding methadone clinics are that clients and non-clients "hang around and cause problems", usually for passersby, neighbours and local businesses. Generally this is related to clients attempting to buy takeaway doses of methadone, either because they have ingested their own doses early, or they are not on the programme and suffering S"withdrawal.

For the programme to work effectively, it is necessary to be able to provide the correct dose, to the correct patient or client at the correct time. Regulating the availability of individual doses, as well as decreasing the likelihood of sale, should help overdose of children, naive users, or clients wishing for a larger daily dose. It should also prevent, or decrease the likelihood of on-selling of doses after the client leaves the clinic, decreasing the incidence of clients hanging around, or leading to overdose in naive users. The overall effect would be to make the programme safer and more acceptable to the local community and other interested parties.

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-000 It is also noted that elderly or seriously ill patients are often prescribed a number of different drugs and medicines to treat different ailments. In such circumstances, the drugs and medicines, in the form of pills etc, and their dosages can be confused by the patient who can take the wrong pills and/or dosage of any one of their pills.

It is believed that it would be advantageous to have a device into which Pharmcists could dispense medication, drugs or the like such that a particular dosage of the drug or medicine is accessible within an appropriate time period. The device could also be used for prescribed drugs likely to be misused by clients, eg benzodiazepines, or medication used to treat substance abuse problems, eg methadone, buprenorphine, or heroin.

10 OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an administering device which substantially overcomes or ameliorates the above mentioned disadvantages. At the very least, the invention provides an alternative to presently known administering devices for drugs, medicines or the like.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided an administering device, said device including a container having a plurality of compartments with openings thereto, said compartments being adapted to receive a product to be administered, and cover means adapted to block access to said compartments, wherein said cover means is arranged to unblock access to at least one compartment at any one time period when a preset condition is met such that said product in that compartment(s) is able to be removed from said compartment(s).

Preferably, only one compartment can be accesses during any one particular time period and the preset condition is determined by timing means.

3 In the preferred form of the invention, the container is formed of a plurality of cylindrical compartments each with a closed bottom and an open top with the compartments being joined together in a substantially cylindrical formation. The cover means fits over the open tops of the cylindrical compartments. The cover means has one opening therein adapted to align with the opening of one of the compartments and is adapted to rotate relative to the cylindrical formation of compartments such that opening of the cover means aligns with one of the compartments when the preset condition is met. When a next preset condition is met, the cover means can be rotated so that it aligns with another compartment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of an administering device of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, o* Fig. 2 is a plan view of the administering device of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a side view of the container of the administering device of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a planside view of the container of the administering device of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a plan view of the container of the administering device of Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a side view of the cover of the administering device of Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is a plan view of the cover of the administering device of Fig. 1.

BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A administering device 10 as illustrated in the drawings is preferably used to administer drugs, medicines or the like in a liquid form contained in a vial or the like as well as in a solid form as a pill, capsule or the like. The device 10 is however not limited to such use and can be used to hold and/or administer any suitable commodity or product.

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4 The device 10 includes a container 11 with a rotatable cover 12. The container 11 is formed from a number of cylindrical compartments 13 which are joined together in a substantially cylindrical formation on a base 14, the compartments are closed at their ends adjacent the base 14 and have openings 15 at the other ends.

The cover 12 is disc shaped and fits over the compartments 13 of the container 11 and has a handle 16 located on its top and a spigot 17 extending downwardly therefrom. The spigot 17 fits inside the circle of cylindrical compartments 13 and has a profile which substantially corresponds to the inner surfaces of the circle of cylindrical compartments 13 to prevent rotation relative to the container 11. The spigot 17 has a base 18 and a locking device 19 is used to lock the base 18 of the spigot 17 to the base 14 of the container 11 together. This locking device 19 preferably fits through corresponding holes (not illustrated) in the bases 14 and 18. In the preferred form the lock is a mechanical key operated lock but can take any form as required.

The disc part of the cover 12 has an aperture 20 which aligns with the opening 15 of the 15 compartments 13 when the compartments are to be accessed. In this embodiment, as there are seven compartments 13, there are seven corresponding access positions for the cover 12. The spigot 17 prevents rotation from the access positions until the spigot 17 is released.

The device 10 operates on preset conditions, which are preferably time oriented. That is the device has a timer which is battery operated, with the batteries 21 being located in the handle 16, which at preset time intervals after the expiration of the preset time periods, solenoids (not illustrated) are operated which in turn releases the spigot 17 and allows the cover to rotate to the adjacent access position, ie in this embodiment, the cover rotates one seventh of a turn. The device is preferably microprocessor controlled.

In one preferred operation in the case of heroin supply to addicts, the device 10 is pre-filled with vials of the correct dosage of heroin in each of the compartments 13. The timer is set and the commencement dose can be accessed according to the timer timing out the appropriate time interval. In the case of methadone supply, the preferred time interval is 24 hours, in the case of heroin supply, the preferred time interval is 4 to 6 hours, in the case of buprenorphine, the preferred time interval is 24 to 72 hours depending on the treatment regime. Other time intervals can be preset in the case of medicines or the like.

When the time interval elapses, the solenoid is activated and the cover 12 can be rotated to the next access position where the dose of the drug can be accessed as the spigot 17 is released. The device 10 prevents the patient from accessing the next vial of the drug until the timer has timed out the next preset time interval. This prevents overdoses as the patient cannot give themselves more than the prescribed dose within the prescribed time periods.

Other forms of preset conditions can be stipulated with the need to enter access codes to 10 enable a user to operate the device.

The foregoing describes only one embodiment of the present invention, and modifications obvious to those skilled in the art can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

For example, when the device is used for administering anti-viral drugs which must be taken at particular time intervals, the device can have an audible alarm, or any such other alarm to alert the patient to the need to take their medication.

Claims (7)

1. An administering device, said device including a container having a plurality of compartments with openings thereto, said compartments being adapted to receive a product to be administered, and cover means adapted to block access to said compartments, wherein said cover means is arranged to unblock access to at least one compartment at any one time period when a preset condition is met such that said product in that compartment(s) is able to be removed from said compartment(s).

2. The administering device according to claim 1, wherein only one compartment can be accessed during any one particular time period. 10 3. The administering device according to claims 1 and 2, wherein the preset condition is determined by timing means.

4. The administering device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the container is formed of a plurality of cylindrical compartments each with a closed bottom and an open top with the compartments being joined together in a substantially cylindrical 15 formation. a The administering device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cover means fits over the open tops of the cylindrical compartments.

6. The administering device according to claim 5, wherein the cover means has one opening therein adapted to align with the opening of one of the compartments and is adapted to rotate relative to the cylindrical formation of compartments such that the opening of the cover means aligns with one of the compartments when the preset condition is met.

7. The administering device according to claim 6, wherein when a next preset condition is met, the cover means is able to be rotated so that it aligns with another compartment.

8. The administering device according to claim 7, wherein the cover means has a handle located on its top and a spigot on its underside, the spigot being adapted to fit inside the circle of cylindrical compartments and having a profile corresponding to the inner surface of the circle of cylindrical compartments to prevent relative rotation thereof when locked.

9. The administering device according to claim 7, wherein the spigot has a base and a locking device to lock the base of the spigot to the base of the container. An administrative device substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 10 DATED this SIXTEENTH day of MARCH 2000 JOHN ANTHONY MURPHY and RICHARD THOMAS CARBURY Patent Attorneys for the Applicant WILSON YOUNG too.