ASU installs prescription medicine vending machine

PHOENIX — There will soon be no need for students to leave Arizona State University’s campus to fill their prescriptions.

The university has installed a new prescription medication vending machine, called the InstyMeds, inside the Tempe campus’ urgent care center.

Associate Director of Health Service Christiana Moore said the machine allows students to pick up their medication after their doctor’s appointment.

“We do believe that this will be a very convenient service for students,” she said.

Moore said the machine will be stocked with both over-the-counter medication as well as common prescription-only medications.

“The machine will not carry any narcotics or controlled medications, but only the top 50 medications that are commonly prescribed here in our clinic,” she said.

Moore would not specify what those top 50 medications are, but said that will likely be antibiotics, asthma medication, anti-histaminas, vitamins and even some smoking cessation medication.

For security, Moore said the machine will only take prescriptions issued by the school’s health services and those will include a security code that is only good for 24 hours.

“They will then put that into the machine, along with their date of birth, and the medication will be dispensed to the patient securely,” she said.

The school is still in pilot testing with the machine and Moore could not provide information about whether there would be any additional cost of using the machine over tradition pharmacies. However, she said the machine does allow students to still use insurance to help pay for their medication.

The machine has been installed, but Moore said it won’t be available for student use for another few weeks.