Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration has given a landmark approval to the very first digital pill with a sensor embedded in the inside. These are complex systems that include a drug and an electronic tracker that is activated when the patient takes the pill. Accordingly, they might be an excellent tool for monitoring and potentially improving patients’ adherence to prescriptions. This would serve well to avoid unnecessary healthcare costs and reduce the anxiety of patients and their relatives. However, digital pills might also diminish patient autonomy, reduce privacy, or promote inadequate use of pharmaceutical resources. This article is aimed at contributing to adequate use of this new tool by showing the main ethical and social issues they involve and proposing measures meant to address them. Finally, we conclude by defending the idea that these new systems should be seen as means of complementing traditional strategies to promote adherence to treatment, and not as substitutes.

中文翻译：

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精神疾病的“数字药丸”：对概念背后问题的伦理和社会分析

最近，美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）已对具有内置传感器的第一个数字药丸给予了里程碑式的批准。这些是复杂的系统，包括药物和电子跟踪器，当患者服用药丸时会激活电子跟踪器。因此，它们可能是监视和潜在改善患者对处方的依从性的极佳工具。这将很好地避免不必要的医疗费用并减少患者及其亲属的焦虑。但是，数字药丸也可能会降低患者的自主权，降低隐私或促进药物资源的不足使用。本文旨在通过展示它们涉及的主要道德和社会问题并提出旨在解决这些问题的措施，为充分利用此新工具做出贡献。最后，