An intake to exit
security system for high-volume pharmacies provides maximum security from tampering and assures accuracy. The
system immediately assigns bar codes to shipments upon arrival and then tracks them through warehousing, bulk distribution, prescription dispensing and shipping to patients, hospitals and drugstores. Bar-coded lock neck devices secure
bulk drug canisters to bar-coded dispensing machines at specified dispensing stations where the machines dispense drugs into pre-labeled prescription bottles according to prescription indicia on the labels. Bottles then undergo content analysis and certification before packaged and shipped to customers. A Ramon
laser spectral analysis contrasts the
bottle contents to a
library of known spectral signatures of drugs, and the
pharmacist is alerted to any detected difference. A simultaneously captured visual image of the pills enables the
pharmacist visually to compare the contents to a
library of known visual appearances of the drugs. Both analyses are recorded for prescriptions certified and forwarded to customers. Deviations are excised without disrupting flow of other prescriptions, and the
system automatically reassigns an incorrectly filled prescription to another
bottle which starts anew through the
system. Full bottles of commonly used drugs and specialized containers for irregularly shaped objects, creams and ointments may be pre-filled and inventoried for later
collation with prescription bottles at the packaging and shipping stage.