Talking pill bottles to hit the market

Product offers dosage instructions on recorded messages

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updated 9:20 a.m. ET July 18, 2005

DUBLIN, Ohio - Medical supplier Cardinal Health Inc. will begin marketing pill bottles equipped with recorded messages that give patients dosage instructions, the company said.

The bottles will be stocked at Cardinal's distribution centers across the country and available to customers who order them, Cardinal spokeswoman Angela Gardner said Friday. Doctors and pharmacists can use a specially designed microphone to record messages for the bottles.

The bottles, made by MedivoxRx Technologies, are aimed at patients who are blind or who might get confused by printed instructions. The bottles also can be used by patients who don't speak English.

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Cardinal Health, based in the Columbus suburb of Dublin, will distribute the bottles to patients through the 33,000 pharmacies it serves. A startup kit with the microphone and three bottles costs about $70, with additional bottles selling for $5 each.

"Rex, The Talking Prescription Bottle System" will compete against a similar product, TalkingRx, which is sold online through Walgreen's and CVS drug stores.

Pittsford, N.Y.-based MedivoxRx is a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based Wizzard Software Corp.