Patent ID: 7676299

Claim:
A medication dispenser, comprising: (a) a refrigerated compartment having an interior and an exterior; (b) a plurality of access doors formed in the refrigerated compartment and adapted to provide access to a limited portion of the interior of the refrigerated compartment; (c) a lock configured to lock and unlock each access door separately from the other access doors; (d) a carousel assembly disposed within the interior of the refrigerated compartment, the carousel assembly including a plurality of turntables each having a base that defines an unobstructed central opening, each turntable mounted within the refrigerated compartment such that it is independently rotatable with respect to the other turntables, wherein each of the turntables are adapted to receive a plurality of medications of a pre-selected type in a predetermined location, and wherein one of each of the plurality of turntables is aligned with one of each of the plurality of access doors; (e) a drive assembly capable of independently rotating the turntables without the use of a drive shaft extending through the unobstructed central openings of the turntables; (f) a computer system adapted to receive a first input selecting a quantity of medications of a pre-selected type out of the plurality of medications of the pre-selected type for dispensing, the computer system adapted to output a first signal in response to the first input; (g) a controller operably coupled to the refrigerated compartment and adapted to receive the first signal from the computer system, wherein the controller is adapted to output a second signal to rotate a first turntable such that the selected medications are positioned adjacent one of the plurality of access doors, and wherein the controller is adapted to output a third signal to unlock the adjacent access door such that the selected quantity of medications of the pre-selected type may be dispensed.