MedELert Clear & Solid White Lids

Purchased this for my mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s dementia and started on medications for high blood pressure. Medications we certainly did not want her to take more than she needed and only when she needed. It has been a godsend. Able to set for multiple dispensing times a day. Alarm can be set loud enough it can be heard throughout the house. There is no ignoring it. Shuts off after you empty pills in your hand. She has repeatedly said if it wasn’t for the alarm she wouldn’t remember to take her medications. Locks and she has not figured out how to open it...she has tried. The lock is not easily visible so she was unaware it required a key until she saw me fill the box. Hide the key. However, with her dementia she she has since forgotten. Replaced the batteries once after about 4-5 months. Highly recommend this item and have done so with friends, family members, coworkers, and other healthcare providers. I am a nurse and have done discharge planning in a hospital for years. This is a Great item to assist with medication compliance, a common issue with elderly patients who require repeat admissions to the hospital.

It's been five months since the purchase of this pill dispenser and we could not be more happy! The batteries are still going strong (we have four reminders that go off every day) and this "wheel of fortune," as we like to call it for fun has been put through the ringer. It's been dropped, left upside down, left in the back of the car in sub zero weather and it's still working like a charm. If you leave it upside down, or on its side (say in an overnight bag where you toss it in), it will beep at you until you place it right side up. It will also not move to the next dose until you do so, preventing pills from falling out. Anyhow, very, very satisfied (and impressed!). orignial review: I wanted to wait a while before posting a review on this product. If you have a loved one in your life who forgets to take medication at specific times during the day -- you NEED this pill dispenser. My husband has Parkinson's and I am not with him during the week. Many times he misses doses but not since the arrival of this at our home. He takes four doses of medicine a day and in the last six weeks, he has not missed a single dose. This has actually trained him now so he is aware of the times he needs to take his meds so if he will be leaving the house, he will stick around until it's time to take his meds and then leave. I am so grateful such a thing exists. Other reviewers have mentioned that the dosage compartment does not line up with the "output" dispenser. All you have to do is to scootch is over until it does. I had to do this only once and ever since then it has stayed on track. Also the battery life is amazing. Have not had to change out the batteries yet. Thank you for making a life changing product !

I ordered the combination solid and clear lid product. I received only the solid lid package. In calling the 888 number on the card included in the packaging I was on hold for more than 10 minutes. When someone finally answered they were obviously from a call center that apparently works for numerous companies as the girl at the other end kept saying she would leave a message for Med Alert (which should be Med-E-Lert) and someone would get back to me. If you want to get ahold of the company, your best bet is to email them. I found their email address on line. While I didn't get a return call from the message I left with the call center, I did get an immediate response to my email apologizing for both sending the wrong product and not returning my call. They have immediately placed the missing clear lid in the mail. As for the unit itself, so far I have no complaints. It holds my numerous prescription medications, no problem (4 pills in the morning and 5 at night). Further, it has dispensed both my morning and evening doses no problems. As with my alarm clock, I find the alarm on this dispenser somewhat annoying. It even wakes me for my morning dose, but that is what I need. If the alarm was pleasant I would sleep right through it. So far I give the unit 5 stars and would recommend it to others.

Life saver! Literally. My husband takes pills serious pills up to 9 times a day, due to advanced cancer. He was getting confused and taking the wrong pills or taking them early. We’re actually buying a 2nd one so I have more wiggle room on filling it. Pros: -Time lock and alarms -Up to 6 alarms per day -Decent sized compartments. Fine for ordinary pills and some big ones, too small for lots of supplements -Easy to set up or change -Easy to fill -Sturdy. We’re pretty careful with it obviously but it has had a couple falls and been fine. -Locks well. We have toddlers in the house so keeping the pills and them apart is always top priority. -Haven’t replaced the batteries yet but only had it a couple months Cons (I’m being very particular with these but in my dream world it would have everything): -If only it had a night time light only alarm setting -an extra tray that can be filled and locked then switched when needed so I don’t have to fill it every 4 days.

Purchased this to help a family member take their meds accurately everyday. No more guessing if Medications were taken. Person adjusted to it quickly. Very nice, moderately simple to use. Love the automatic timer which opens the compartment when the medications are to be taken. The whole container has to be flipped over to turn off the timer and remove the meds. It is very light. Contains 2 lids. One which is see through and the other opaque. Your choice. The medelert should be locked. It is a little tricky to unlock and open to refill hence the 4 stars. The paper rings are also a little tricky to place but do work. Overall an A for this item. Safe, secure and simple medication keeper.

Like others have said, people with dementia forget when to take meds, they overtake them sometimes, and other times they they just plain forget. My mom was having this issue so I did some research and decided on this dispenser. It's only been a week but so far so good. I thought the setup was fairly easy (anyone who programmed a VCR or any electronic in the 90s should be fine.) I set her up for twice a day. Others have complained that it is not loud enough which I could see. Fortunately she keeps this next to her recliner and has heard it every time so far. I checked on her the first several days and she confirmed that she heard it and took her medication on time. She called me last night to say that she loves it. She said she will be sitting in her recliner dozing or phasing out...and it will go off. She said otherwise she would've just forgotten to take them. So that's a win! My fear was that she would jam it before it had time to finish its rotation, but it rotates the tray completely (which she doesn't hear) and THEN the alarm goes off. The only suggestion I would have is that for the clear cover (it comes with both clear and solid white - we chose clear so we could keep an eye on the meds) it's hard to see which slot the pills come out of because they all look the same to an elderly person. I ended up taking a sharpie and drawing an outline around the compartment that the pills come out of (I will take a red paint pen the next time I go over there.) Maybe for both covers the manufacturer could just outline the slot compartment. Just a suggestion. I will update my review if anything goes south but so far it's working exactly how we wanted!

Purchased in January, not that easy to program - I followed instructions but the device didn't do what the one in the video did. I got it figured out eventually. However, my mom (with her dementia) started messing with it, taking batteries out and replacing them in the wrong direction so I needed to reprogram the device. Super frustrating. This happened multiple times and this last time, in July, the device simply will not function, no matter how many times I try to program it. I cannot program the alarms, and now it just says error code. I have given up and bought a small safe with combination locks to keep her meds in and we have a care giver who comes to open the safe and give her the meds daily. I would not recommend this device. Hours of frustration, money wasted.

I have to echo others who say my problems with this device are with quality control. I absolutely LOVE the way this allows me to portion out my mother's meds and, despite her dementia, allows her to take her own meds on time - that is worth 5 stars. But the quality is shoddy. The first one I bought had another name on it but was the exact same product. The compartment wheel was sloppy and allowed smaller pills to slip out before their time and that seller did not respond to emails. Then the clock/timer just stopped working. I *may* have had that one for a full year. I bought this "MedElert" branded one in February and the compartment wheel does not slip around - it's been great, working like it should. Until this morning when the metal part where the key fits the lock just fell off. I doubt I'll be able to open it again. The cost isn't nearly as cheap as the construction. But given what a big step it is to the next level of locking pill dispensers that notify, I've got to just keep buying them. At least I have spare keys now. It's a shame because it fills an important need in caring for our elders and others.