One would hear many stories of deaths, usually involving people who have died due to major road accidents, crime, or even murder. However, stories of people who have died because of a prescription drug overdose usually go unheard.

A Blockchain-based infrastructure designed to provide easier communication between pharmacists, patients, and physicians, BlockMedx was created after a company research had discovered staggering results of deaths due to drug-related overdose.

The team behind BlockMedx aims to prevent the 60,000 human deaths due to drug abuse happening yearly – in fact, this number increases each year and is predicted to reach 500,000 in the next ten years. BlockMedx is attempting to connect physicians and pharmacists with the use of their Blockchain infrastructure, aiming to aid them in solving the current problems in the paper prescription system.

Forgeries, prescription shopping, and corrupt physicians and pharmacists are seen to be the root of the problems with the paper prescription system. Blockchain offers a solution to these issues.

How does it work?

Designed to combat the so-called “prescription drug epidemic” in the US, the Blockchain-based solution BlockMedx is still currently in its development phase. However, there is a preview prototype that is available for viewing. The virtual experience is able to capture the essence of its system for solving the issues of many patients, pharmacies, and physicians. It also shows the platform’s effectiveness in linking the concerned parties in the process.

The process designed by the team behind BlockMedx is simple: A patient would visit a physician and get prescribed a certain type of medicine on the Blockchain, the prescription containing the patient’s details and medical history. The token is automatically withdrawn into the pharmacy’s digital wallet once the patient has taken the medicine from the pharmacy, and the prescription will then be considered expired.

Patients will be biometrically signing their prescriptions when they receive the medicine, meaning the prescriptions are non-transferable, secure, and immutable. BlockMedx’s token would ensure that the prescription will only be used once, preventing drug overdose.

Continuous development

BlockMedx wants to continue its development after its successful launch, planning to include all critical drug types and putting together a working environment for them on their platform. But all this would still largely depend on how BlockMedx would handle the process, and how its target market will adopt the technology they are introducing.

Currently, no other companies have attempted to solve the problem. The idea and the business model shows that BlockMedx has the potential to become an amazing implementation of Blockchain technology and save human lives.

With the current system and number of people suffering depression and anxiety, many addicts and abusers go unnoticed. The platform will be upgrading the system and allow clear-cut communication between physicians and pharmacists to find and help those who need it to hopefully prevent thousands of deaths yearly.

More about BlockMedx

BlockMedx has released a video explaining their project, the research they have done, and the limitations of the platform. They also explain how the system they designed works, protecting all the stakeholders in the industry of prescription drugs.

For those looking to invest in the project, the initial coin offering of the company will be publicly available in the third quarter of 2018.