Patent ID: 6948492

Claim:
A method for controlling the minimum time interval between the self-administration of a plurality of prescribed unit doses of an intranasal pharmaceutical composition intranasally by a patient capable of self-administering the composition, the method comprising: a) providing a plurality of sealed vials, each vial having an access orifice and containing the prescribed unit dose of the pharmaceutical composition; b) providing a drug delivery device having a microprocessor, a power source, and means for securing a plurality of the sealed vials containing the pharmaceutical composition in a predetermined array and dispensing means for recovering the pharmaceutical composition from each of the vials and dispensing the pharmaceutical composition in the form of a spray for intranasal administration in response to a manual activation force applied to the drug delivery device by the patient; c) securing a plurality of the sealed vials to a supporting member rotatably mounted in the drug delivery device in the predetermined array; d) programming the microprocessor to generate a signal at the end of a prescribed period of time following the dispensing of a dose of pharmaceutical composition from a vial; e) generating a signal to initiate sequential movement of the vials relative to the dispensing means; and f) sequentially moving each of the vials containing the pharmaceutical composition relative to the dispensing means at the end of a prescribed time interval following activation of the dispensing means to intranasally administer a dose of the liquid composition.