VERSAILLES, Ky. (LEX 18) — Two college freshmen from Woodford County have invented a pill bottle insert that prevents accidental overdoses. The students are working on a long term patent, but their fundraising meetings were canceled because of the coronavirus.
The little device might look simple, but it represents a big idea.
"We decided that summer we were going to sit down and find a way to keep kids from getting into pill bottles," Abigail Cheek said.
Dose Defense started as a school project.
"The smaller end of the funnel had to be around the size of the diameter of the pill, just so one can come out," Adie Preston said.
Two years and thousands of hours of work later, the college freshmen are working on a long term patent and beta testing.
"We're going to be starting in Burk Pharmacy in South Carolina. We're going to be shipping our inserts there," Cheek said. "And they'll be sending them out with their prescriptions. Then after that test, we're going to be expanding to 14 other pharmacies across the US."
Abigail and Adie were planning on attending pitch competitions this spring. There, the girls were hoping to raise at least $2,500 to help pay for the attorney fees and long term patent. But the events were canceled because of the coronavirus. Leaving the pair to get creative with funding.
"We've been working with investors, I've been on some Zoom meetings with them. Adie's been getting calls in to manufacturing like she said, just so we can know exactly what cost we're going to be expecting because we don't know how long this will go on," Cheek said.
The girls have until May 28 before their invention becomes fair game.
If you would like to contribute to their Go Fund Me, you can visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/dosedefense-legal-fees to do so.
