Reduced Suicides – An Unexpected Plus for My Proposed System of Delivering Medications

A recent Opinionator blog entry in the NY Times proposes that eliminating large bottles of painkillers and other medications could significantly reduce suicides, by substituting small blister packs. 

A UK study reported in BBC News, indicates that packs with 16 or 32 pills reduced suicides by overdose of paracetamol (active ingredient in Tylenol) by over 50%.

CDC statistics show suicide is the 10^th leading cause of death in the US, and 23% tested positive for antidepressants, and 20.8% for opiates, including heroin and prescription pain killers.

How much better to only receive exactly the pills you are prescribed at any time, and to track that you actually take them: pills could be returned, or destroyed, if you don’t take them. Non-prescription pills can be delivered in the same way, with similar benefits.

The proposal notes that blister packs are more expensive to produce than bottles; and that some people will have trouble opening blister packs, such as those afflicted with arthritis. Both of these are solved by the June 1 proposal I made for Delivering Medications using our new transportation system.

Timing is always important, and I find it quite interesting that this issue of suicides and large bottles came out just after I proposed an alternative solution to the problem, which would be cheaper and more convenient than the proposal for blister packs.