TruMedicines launched a Kickstarter campaign today for its phone app designed to ensure the safety of medications. The app uses a secure, accurate and immediate two step authentication process via QR code and cloud-based image recognition to confirm medications are genuine and safe. Verification of authenticity includes details about where the drug was made, the expiration date and adverse reactions. The app provides the information both verbally and in large font in 52 languages.

Additional features offer incentives for adherence. Launching today, the 40 day TruMedicines Kickstarter campaign seeks to secure $150,000 in funding in anticipation of an April 2016 launch. Full details about the campaign and the issues surrounding medication adherence and counterfeit drugs can be found at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1679318871/1651811011?token=7b90c3f2.

In 2010, The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy found that of the nearly 11,000 internet pharmacies in business, a staggering 97% were selling counterfeit drugs.

“When I learned about the epidemic of children dying due to counterfeit malaria pills, it became my mission to find a solution,” stated TruMedicines founder and author of the book Making Pills Talk, David Prokop. “It also assists patients with compliance to ensure that medications are taken as prescribed.”

The TruMedicines app is tackling the issue of adherence to medical prescriptions via notifications and patient rewards. SMS text notifications will alert family and doctors if a patient skips a dose and a ‘gamification’ rewards program is activated when medications are scanned – incentivizing adherence. The World Health Organization notes a lack of medication compliance can lead to both reduced health benefits and increased expenses. Reports indicated that for chronic illnesses, 90 percent of diabetes patients to 50 percent of cancer patients do not fully comply with their medicine therapies.