Big Pharma's Push to Get Patients to Take Their Meds

So drug makers, from London to Tokyo to Cambridge, Mass., are pouring money into programs aimed at cajoling--or nagging--patients to take every last pill their doctors prescribe. The companies are investing in smart pills that will send alerts when they haven't been swallowed at the prescribed time. They're subsidizing gift cards to thank patients who remember to refill. They're paying patients to go on talk circuits to tout the virtues of taking medication properly. They're even lobbying the federal government for permission to pay third parties, such as pharmacists, to encourage patients to take their pills.