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Managing The Opioid Epidemic Through BlockMedx

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There is an epidemic in the United States. And it involves drugs. Drug overdose causes far too many deaths. And over half of the deaths caused by drug overdose involve an opioid. Shockingly and sadly, opioid overdose causes 91 deaths per day in the United States alone.

This means that the majority of drug overdoses are not coming from illegal drugs (although some opioids like heroin are illegal). Instead they’re coming from drugs like morphine, oxycodone, Vicodin and Demerol. These drugs are helpful when they’re used to diminish pain. However like all opiates, they are highly addictive and can easily be abused when not under the direct supervision of a prescribing doctor.

If these drugs are so addictive, why are doctors prescribing enough to cause a drug overdose? Therein lies our problem. It only takes watching a few episodes of your favorite soap opera to know how easy it is to forge a prescription in order to secure more opioids.

The system is broken and flawed. Prescriptions are written on paper, making them easily forged. It doesn’t take much for someone to make copies of a prescription and take them to multiple pharmacies. Or to alter the number of pills prescribed.

Medical records between hospitals and doctors are not well maintained. And well meaning pharmacists can’t make a judgment call on whether they’re handing out dangerous drugs to an addict or a law abiding citizen. While this is a staggering problem, it is preventable. That’s because BlockMedx has recognized the problem. And they have a solution.

Handling Security on Blockchain

BlockMedx uses the power of blockchain to help streamline the way we process prescription drugs. In doing so, they can help stem the opioid overdose epidemic. It’s the first and only end to end solution for processing prescriptions such as opioids from physicians to pharmacies using the Ethereum blockchain. It’s also completely secure and HIPPA-compliant.

BlockMedx provides a flawed system with security, identity, and it’s own sub-economy to power the system. First, BlockMedx is completely secure. It uses the Ethereum blockchain to provide a closed-end, cryptographically secure system to process the prescriptions.

Next, BlockMedx fixes the issue of prescription forgery. Now, the control and power is placed back where it belongs, in the hands of the prescriber. A biometric signature like a thumb print or face recognition is utilized to ensure that forgeries are a thing of the past.

BlockMedx also provides a secure digital record of all medical history. Because it’s based on Ethereum’s blockchain, every transaction will be recorded on a ledger that is distributed, transparent, secure and permanent. This will give prescribers with a history of all prescriptions, even ones made in another state. This extra layer of transparency will help deter over prescribing harmful drugs and subsequent overdoses.

All of this transparency allows the pharmacy to make a real time, informed decision on whether the patient they are giving the prescription drugs to is a healthy user or an abuser. The detailed history of medical records that are made available to the pharmacist help determine this.

Last but not least is the economy that drives BlockMedx, the MDX token. In order to ensure each prescription is valid, it must be accompanied by a MDX token. By pairing each prescription with an MDX token payment, it ensures the security and validity of the network. Not only do prescribers use the MDX tokens, but patients will use the token to pay for doctor’s visits and prescription pickups at pharmacies.

BlockMedx also comes with a mobile app that provides patients with a complete history of all their prescriptions in a single easy to use location, available for Android and iPhone. Important details like prescribers, dates and refill eligibility will all be made available at the touch of a finger.

Opioid related overdoses is an all to common cause of death. What makes these deaths even harder to stomach is that it is due in large part to a broken system of prescription drug delivery. But it doesn’t have to stay that way anymore. With BlockMedx, an alternative is provided to hospitals, pharmacies and patients providing everyone with the appropriate level of transparency to help keep more people safe.

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