Interested in a free 25+ eBook on the 7 Wastes? Please DOWNLOAD HERE.
King Pharmaceutical (NYSE: KG) recently had a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Their drug, Embeda, has an interesting property: If you take the medication as prescribed, it works fine; if you abuse the medication, it ceases to work. This is Poka-Yoke (ポカヨケ) for Pharmaceutical drugs.
Poka-Yoke (ポカヨケ), translated, means mistake-proof, or fail-proof. In it’s simplest form, it is a method that prevents failures. Poka-Yoke is a critical piece in Lean Thinking, pioneered by Shigeo Shingo. Examples of Poka-Yoke might include:
- Clocky, a clock that prevents you from sleeping-in
- A Key can enter a keyhole in only one way
- Needle cap, to prevent needle pin pricks
- A Microwave stops working, when the door is opened
- Aza Raskin explains Poka-Yoke for Humane Interfaces (Aza is a friend of shmula & his dad invented the Macintosh – Jef Raskin)
In their FDA approval press release:
We are focused on developing medicines that use novel technologies designed to reduce drug liking and make it more difficult to extract the active ingredient. We anticipate a September 2009 launch for EMBEDA (TM).
Utilizing King’s proprietary technology, EMBEDA(TM) contains extended-release morphine pellets, each with an inner core of naltrexone hydrochloride, an opioid receptor antagonist. If taken as directed, the morphine relieves pain while the sequestered naltrexone hydrochloride passes through the body with no intended clinical effect. If EMBEDA(TM) is crushed or chewed, the naltrexone is released and absorbed with the morphine, reversing the morphine’s subjective and analgesic effects.
At the heart of Poka-Yoke is Prevention and an awareness of Human Frailty: we want to stop problems before they occur. Indeed, preventing abuse, addiction, medication dependence, tragedy to the individual and families, or death, is a novel and innovative use for Poka-Yoke.
search terms for this article:
embeda, poka-yoke in pharma, shmula drug, prescription medicine poka yoke, poka-yoke in pharmaceutical industry, poka yoke pharmaceutical, poka yoke in phrama, poka yoke in pharma industry, Mistake proofing in Pharma ceutical manufacturing, kind poka yoke, yoke drugRelated Articles:
 |
 |
 |
||
This post was written by Pete Abilla | ||||
How To Be A Human 
Six Sigma Workbook For Dummies — The Raffle 
The Apple iPhone Supply Chain 
Jeff Bezos and Root Cause Analysis 
The Toyota A3 Report 
A Mindless Worker is a Happy Worker 
Ask Mary Poppendieck Anything! 
A Lean Case Interview 
Batch-and-Queue or Single-Piece Flow 
Multi-Tasking Leads to Lower Productivity 
queueing theory: part 1 
Zero Defects is Wrong Approach 
Overmanaged and Underled 
Pull Systems, Push Systems: The Paper Airplane Game 
Queueing, Disneyland, and FastPass 
Operational Excellence is not a Substitute for Effective Leadership or a Good Strategy 
Law of Instinct 
Ask Gretchen Rubin: The Happiness Interview 
Taiichi Ohno: Teach Others to Think for Themselves 
Zipcar Customer Experience: Variability, Utilization, and Queueing 
Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen 
Colin Powell on Leadership 
Visual Management and Self-Reliance 
Process Control and Luck 
Poka Yoke Example: Prevent Error Through Embarrassment and Humiliation 
queueing theory: part 2+ 
Queueing Theory: Part 3 
Emergency Room (ER) Wait Times 
Quality and Continuous Improvement; 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
That is absolutely brilliant. Thanks for finding and sharing that!
Regarding addiction as a brain disorder, medical in nature, this is treatment within treatment. I wonder if the naltrexone would also inhibit the patient from using any other opiates while being treated for pain.