New Tool Hopes To Curb Opioid Abuse

[gtxvideo vid=’cSC3o3rA’ thumb=’http://player.gtxcel.com/thumbs/cSC3o3rA.jpg’ vtitle=’OPIOID ABUSE’]

Opioid abuse is on the rise, but with helpful gadgets like TimerCap, CVS hoping to help their clients keep track.

“It’s basically like a stopwatch in the cap. So, every time they remove the cap it resets and then when they replace it, it restarts, telling them when the last dosage of their medication was taken,” Terra Jones said, a Pharm. D with CVS said.

TimerCap is one of many new products on store shelves in hopes to curb prescription abuse and misuse. Pharmacist Jones said it’s for anyone who struggles with keeping track of time in between doses or making sure no one else is dipping into your medicine cabinet.

“Even just busy moms that can’t keep track of when they took their medication. I think it’s a great tool for any patient to use just to help them keep some awareness of when their last dosage was taken,” Jones said. “As a parent, it would allow you to see when the bottle was last open. So that’ll definitely give you some comfort to know if you were the last one to access the medication,”

TimerCap CEO Larry Twersky has a personal reason why he takes prescription abuse to heart.

“Because my mom was addicted to prescription pain meds… and I know first hand what it can do to a family. And what it did to our family and us growing up is something I don’t want to see happen to other families,” Twersky said.

Twersky said the first step for families to take is making sure they know the dangers associated with the medications in their home, and being vigilant for how quickly medications can disappear.

“First, they should understand what an opioid is, because it doesn’t usually go by the name opioid. It will say hydrocodone, it will see Oxy, and you need to understand opioids are highly addictive,” Twersky said.

The package comes with three caps. Two standard sizes and one larger one. These are sold nationwide in all CVS stores.