SEPARABLE UNIT DOSE MEDICATION CONTAINER

Abstract: There is disclosed a unit dose medication container (10) comprising a plurality of separate and individual pod members (11) in which unit doses of medication (14) can be placed. The pod members (11) are interconnected by a breakable bridge (12) to form an integral medication container unit (10). One or more pod members can be removed from the container unit (10) by manually rotating one pod member (11) with respect to an adjacent pod member (11) until the bridge (12) connecting them is broken.

Description: TITLE OF THE INVENTION SEPARABLE UNIT DOSE MEDICATION CONTAINER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In many hospitals and health care facilities, it is common practice to prepare medications for subsequent administration to patients by manually removing unit doses of prescribed medication for a patient from a bottle, vial or other container and placing these doses in separate containers; e.g., a paper cup, pre-designated for a patient. When a pre-designated container carrying a patient's unit doses of medication are delivered to that patient, the patient, or an attendant, must then manually remove the unit doses and either the patient self-administers the medication doses or the attendant assists in the administration of the medication. In many instances, a plurality of containers carrying unit doses of different medication for several patients are placed on a tray or other- conveyance for delivery to the patients. Although each patient's doses of medication are placed in separate containers each designated for a particular patient, mix-ups do occur. Sometimes one patient receives medication prescribed and intended for another or one patient will receive too much medication while another does not receive enough. In addition, manual handling of the unit doses of medication by the attendant and/or the patient can subject the medication to contamination that may be harmful to the patient. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has now been found that by using the separable unit dose medication container of the invention that unit doses of medication prescribed and intended for a particular patient can be delivered to that patient without the need for either an attendant or the patient to manually handle the medication itself thereby preserving the integrity of the medication. It has also been found that use of the separable unit dose medication container of the invention minimizes the accidental administration of too much or too little medication to a patient and also minimizes the accidental administration of the wrong medication to a patient. - In general, the separable unit dose medication container of the invention comprises a plurality of separate and individual unit dose medication pods which are horizontally aligned adjacent to each other, each of said adjacent pods being joined together by a breakable bridge to form an elongated, integral container unit. Each of the pods carries a unit dose of medication and is provided with means such as a peelably removable tab to access the medication. The geometric form of the medication pods is not critical and they can be made to be rectangular, square, triangular, trapazoidal, spherical, oblong, circular and the like. Many unit doses of medication are prepared in tablet form having a stylized geometric form to distinguish one unit dose from another unit dose of the same medication or to distinguish one medication from another. Thus, the pods comprising the medication container of the invention can also be manufactured to have the same or similar stylized geometric form as the unit dose of medication they are intended to carry. The unit dose medication pods are interconnected to each other by means of a breakable bridge and, when thus joined together, form a horizontally aligned, elongated, integral container. The interconnecting breakable bridge can also be of any geometric shape such as a "T", an "X", a cross, a hollow cylinder, and the like, and is dimensioned so that when it is subjected to the force of a twisting torque, the bridge can be readily broken. This can be easily accomplished by manually rotating either clockwise or counterclockwise one medication pod with respect to an adjacent medication pod. In this way, one or more unit dose medication pods can be removed from the elongated, integral container depending upon the dose amount of medication to be administered to a patient. Each elongated integral container can comprise that number of unit dose medication pods- sufficient to provide, a pre-determined amount of medication to cover a particular time period such as, for example, a week's supply of medication. In turn, the elongated, integral containers can be bundled to comprise a package of such containers of medication to cover longer periods of time such as two weeks, a month, or more. Although the separable unit dose medication container of the invention can be made from any suitable material, moldable plastics such as polypropylene, high or low density polyethylene, and the like, are preferred. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The separable unit dose medication container of the invention will become more apparent from the ensuing description when considered together with the accompanying drawing wherein: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an elongated, integral medication container of the invention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a unit dose medication pod comprising the medication container shown in Fig. 1; and, Fig. 3 is a view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Turήing now to the drawing, wherein like reference numerals denote like parts, there is shown Fig. 1 an elongated, integral medication container of the invention, generally identified by reference numeral 10, comprising a plurality of individual and separate medication pods 11. The medication pods 11 are joined together and interconnected by means of a breakable bridge 12 which is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 to be in the form of a cross. A cavity 13 is formed in each of the pods 11 to receive a unit dose of medication 14. In order to preserve the integrity of the unit doses of medication 14, the cavities 13 can be covered and overlaid with a conventional, peelably removable tab means 15. In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1-3, the geometric shape of the medication pods 11 are depicted as being generally rectangular having opposed side walls 16,17, opposed end walls 18,.19, bottom wall 20 and open top 21. As mentioned above,. the geometric shape of the medication pods 11 is not critical and they can be formed to have any geometric shape desired. The breakable bridge 12 joining and interconnecting the medication pods 11 is shown in Figs. 2 and 3 in the form of a cross but, as with the medication pods 11, it can also be of any geometric form desired. The breakable bridge 12 imparts some degree of rigidity to the medication container 10 while enabling it to be readily broken when subjected to a twisting torque force when one medication pod 11 is manually rotated clockwise or counterclockwise with respect to an adjacent medication pod 11. This can be readily achieved by one skilled in the art by proper dimensioning of the breakable bridge 12 and/or selection of an appropriate manufacturing material such as one of the many suitable plastics referred to earlier. Since each medication pod 11 already contains a unit dose of medication 14, there is no need to remove the medication from the pod prior to its administration to a patient. Depending upon the medication dose prescribed or intended for a patient, one or more pods 11 can be removed from the container 10 by manually rotating adjacent pods to break the interconnecting bridge 12. The thusly removed pod or pods 11 can then be delivered to a pre-designated patient who can then remove the peelable tab(s) 15 and self-administer the medication or be assisted by an attendant for administration of the medication. As a result, multiple manual handling of medication is eliminated and the integrity of the medication is preserved from the time it is packaged in the container until it is administered to a patient. Although the invention has been described with particularity it should be understood that changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the invention defined in the claims.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A separable unit dose medication container comprising; (a) a plurality of individual and separate medication pods, each of said pods ' having a cavity formed therein adapted to receive a unit dose of medication; (b) peelably removable tab means overlying each of said cavities; and, (c) a manually breakable bridge member interconnecting and joining said pods together to form an elongated, integral medication container. 2. The medication container of Claim 1 wherein the geometric form of said pbds is rectangular. 3. The medication container of Claim 1 wherein the geometric shape of said breakable bridge member is in the form of a. cross. . 4. The medication container of Claim 1 wherein said plurality of pods collectively contain an amount of medication sufficient to supply said medication to a patient over a pre-determined period of time.

Inventors: BUNIN LEONID, BUNIN, LEONID
Applicants: MERCK & CO INC, MERCK & CO., INC.
Application year: 1993
Main classification: B65D83
IPC codes: A61J1, B65D1