GB2260748A

GB2260748A - Information carrier with label for use with container of medication

Info

Publication number: GB2260748A
Application number: GB9122745A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Beverley Elizabeth Alexan Ward
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1991-10-26
Filing date: 1991-10-26
Publication date: 1993-04-28
Anticipated expiration: 2011-10-26
Also published as: GB9122745D0; GB2260748B

Abstract

Identical labels 13, 20 are adhered to a medication container 10 and an information carrier 14. The information carrier has an array (18, figure 2) of readily removable marks so that one mark can be removed when each portion of medication is consumed. The information carrier can be folded with the marks on the inner faces, and the label 20 may be attached to an outer face. <IMAGE>

Description

Title: Method of recording the consumption of medication, information carrier and container for use in the method.

Description of Invention The present invention relates to the recording of the consumption of medication. The medication may be consumed by being swallowed, injected or applied externally to a patient.

In US patent 4 752 087, there is described a method of recording the consumption of medication in which there is prepared a label having an array of readily removable marks representing portions in which the medication is to be consumed. The label is adhered to a container containing the medication and, when each portion of the medication is consumed, a respective one of the marks is removed from the label, revealing a numeral printed on the label beneath the mark.

The label disclosed in US 4 752 087 has a number of disadvantages.

If the labelled container is carried by the patient in a pocket or a hand bag, the label may be subjected to abrasion and one or more of the marks may be removed, partly or entirely, without there being consumption of a corresponding portion of the medication. Attachment of the label to the container may be contrary to or not clearly in compliance with relevant regulations or may bring into question the liability of the person who attached the label to the container, in the event of non-compliance by the patient with the prescription for consumption of the medication. In a case where the container is small, the size of the array is limited and, if the label is wrapped around the container, the entire array may not be visible at the same time.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information carrier having an open condition and a closed condition and comprising first and second leaves which lie in face-to-face relation with each other when the carrier is closed and which are substantially co-planar when the carrier is in the open condition, wherein a face of the first leaf which is at the outside of the carrier when the carrier is in the closed condition bears a label displaying information and wherein there is on faces of the first and second leaves which are at the inside of the carrier when in the closed condition an array of readily removable marks.

A carrier embodying the first aspect of the invention is primarily intended for use in combination with a container containing medication. Such a container would normally bear a label displaying information specific to the medication and indicating when portions of the medication are to be consumed.

The label of the information carrier of the combination preferably bears information which is the same as that on the label of the container. The label on the carrier may be a duplicate of the label on the container.

The readily removable marks of the array can be used in a manner analogous to that proposed in US 4 752 087, for recording the consumption of portions of the medication. After use, the information carrier will normally be folded so that the array will be protected mechanically by the leaves and is unlikely to be subjected to abrasion when the information carrier is carried by the patient.

The information carrier can be sufficiently large to accommodate a clear array comprising a large number of marks, for example 112 marks, representing portions to be taken four times a day for a period of four weeks.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of recording the consumption of medication wherein the medication is placed in a container, there is prepared a first label bearing information specific to the medication, the label is adhered to the container, either before or after placing the medication in the container, there is prepared an information carrier having an array of readily removable marks, there is prepared a second label, also bearing said information, the second label is applied to the information carrier and, when a portion of the medication is consumed, one of said marks is removed from the array.

An example of an information carrier embodying the first aspect of the invention, in combination with a medication container, and a method of recording consumption of the medication in which the information carrier and container are used will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein: FIGURE 1 shows the medication container and the information carrier, the information carrier being in a partly-closed condition, and FIGURE 2 shows the information carrier in an open condition.

The container 10 shown in Figure 1 may be any known container used for containing medication. The particular example illustrated comprises a substantially cylindrical, hollow body 11 and a lid 12 for closing the body. The container contains medication, for example a number of pills. Alternatively, the medication may be in the form of a liquid or a paste or adapted for dispensing as an aerosol for inhalation by a patient.

There is adhered to the body 11 at the outside of the container 10 a label 13 prepared by the pharmacist who dispensed the medication and containing information specific to the medication in the container 10. The label indicates the patient for whom the medication is intended, the number of portions to be consumed per day and, possibly, the times when the portions are to be consumed.

The label also bears the name and address of the pharmacist, the name of the medication and warning notice.

The information carrier 14 shown in Figure 1 comprises a first leaf 15 and a second leaf 16. Each of these leaves is substantially flat and is somewhat larger in area than is the label 13. The leaves 15 and 16 preferably have the same size and shape and meet at a fold line 17. In the example illustrated, the leaves are substantially rectangular.

When the carrier 14 is free of externally applied stress, it assumes a configuration in which the leaves 15 and 16 are mutually inclined at an angle within the range 10 to 1700 and more preferably within the range 40 to 110 .

Accordingly, the carrier can stand in a stable condition on a horizontal surface with those margins of the leaves which are opposite to the fold line 17 resting on the supporting surface. The carrier can also stand in a stable condition with respective margins of the leaves which intersect the fold line resting on the supporting surface.

The carrier 14 can be folded from the unstressed condition illustrated in Figure 1 to a closed condition in which the leaves 15 and 16 are in face-to-face contact with each other. The carrier is sufficiently resilient to be capable of reverting to the partly open condition illustrated in Figure 1 when released, even after being folded to the closed condition many times.

The configuration of the information carrier 14 can also be changed to the open condition illustrated in Figure 2, in which the leaves 15 and 16 are substantially co-planar. The information carrier can be formed from a single sheet of card or plastics material and the fold line 17 may be defined by compressing or scoring the sheet of material along the fold line.

On those faces of the leaves 15 and 16 which are at the inside of the information carrier 14, when in the closed condition, there is an array 18 of readily removable marks, one of which is identified by the reference numeral 19.

The array may be divided by printed lines into respective parts corresponding to days or other periods of time. Words may be printed on the carrier to identify different parts of the array. The number of marks in a part of the array corresponding to a day is equal to the number of portions of the medication which are to be consumed in a day.

Each of the leaves 15 and 16 typically has a dimension parallel to the fold line 17 of 85mm and a dimension perpendicular to the fold line of 54mm.

With these dimensions, it is unnecessary for the array 18 to occupy fully the inner faces of the leaves. Additional information may be presented in a space at the periphery of the array or in more than one such space.

The information carrier 14 further comprises a label 20 which is adhered to the leaf 15 of the carrier at the face thereof opposite to the array 18.

It will be noted that the label 20 does not fully occupy the face of the leaf and there is space adjacent to the label to bear additional information. The label 20 is a duplicate of the label 13 and has the same size as the label 13.

When a pharmacist dispenses medication, he prints two, identical labels displaying information specific to the medication. He applies one of these labels to the container 10 in which the medication is placed. He applies the other label to the information carrier 14. The information carrier is then associated mechanically with the medication container. For example, both the medication container and the information carrier are placed in a further container, which may be a bag. Additional medication may also be placed in the bag. For each container of medication placed in the bag, there may be provided a respective information carrier. It will be understood that the information carriers can each readily be associated with the corresponding container of medication by means of the labels on the information carriers and on the containers.

When the patient consumes a portion of medication from a particular container, he removes from the corresponding information carrier one of the readily removable marks of the array 18. This may reveal a further mark, of contrasting appearance, printed on the information carrier beneath the readily removable mark. The further mark is more permanent than is the mark 19 and cannot readily be removed from the carrier 14.

After the mark has been removed from the array 18, the information carrier 14 is folded from the fully open condition illustrated in Figure 2. If the information carrier is to be placed on a shelf or other supporting surface, then it is permitted to assume the partly open condition illustrated in Figure 1. If the information carrier is to be carried by the patient in a pocket or a hand bag, it is folded to the closed condition so that the array 18 is protected from abrasion.

The carrier may be held in the closed condition by a cover or envelope.

Envelopes suitable for receiving credit cards are suitable for receiving the carrier 14 and holding the carrier in the closed condition.

It will be noted that the face of the leaf 16 opposite to that bearing the array 18 is generally exposed to view and is not used for the purpose of recording consumption of the medication. This face of the leaf 16 may bear advertising material or other information. It will be noted that the label 20 is at the outside of the carrier, when the carrier is in the closed condition.

The example of carrier illustrated in the accompanying drawing has an array 18 with one readily removable mark per day. It will be understood that alternative carriers having more than one readily removable mark per day would be manufactured and the pharmacist would select an information carrier having the appropriate number of readily removable marks per day, according to the prescribed number of portions to be consumed per day.

The readily removable marks of the array 18 may form a substantially continuous layer, spaces between adjacent marks being substantially eliminated.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate may, separately or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

1. An information carrier having an open condition and a closed condition and comprising first and second leaves which lie in face-to-face relation with each other when the carrier is closed, which are substantially co-planar when the carrier is in the open condition, wherein a face of the first leaf which is at the outside of the carrier when the carrier is in the closed condition bears a label displaying information and wherein there is on faces of the first and second leaves which are at the inside of the carrier when in the closed condition, or one of such faces, an array of readily removable marks.

2. A combination comprising a container and an information carrier, wherein the container contains medication, the container bears a label displaying information specific to the medication and indicating when doses are to be taken or the medication is otherwise to be consumed, the carrier bears a label also displaying said information, the carrier bears an array of readily removable marks, the carrier comprises two leaves and can be folded so that the leaves lie in faceto-face relation with each other and can be opened so that the leaves are substantially co-planar, the array of marks is at the inside of the carrier, when the carrier is folded, and wherein the label is at the outside of the carrier, when the carrier is folded.

3. A carrier according to Claim 1 or a combination according to Claim 2 wherein said label is adhered to the first leaf of the carrier.

4. A carrier or combination according to Claim 3 wherein each of said marks covers a respective secondary, more permanent mark

5. A carrier according to any one of Claims 1, 3 and 4 which is so formed that, when substantially unstressed, it assumes a configuration in which the leaves are mutually inclined at an angle within the range 10 to 1700.

6. A method of recording the consumption of medication wherein the medication is placed in a container, there is prepared a first label bearing information specific to the medication, the label is adhered to the container, either before or after placing of the medication in the container, there is prepared an information carrier having an array of readily removable marks, there is prepared a second label, also bearing said information, the second label is applied to the information carrier and, when a portion of the medication is consumed, one of said marks is removed from the array.

7. A method according to Claim 6 wherein the second label is a duplicate of the first label.

8. An information carrier substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

9. Any novel feature or novel combination of features disclosed herein or in the accompanying drawing.