Amazon is set to revolutionize the delivery of prescription drugs by using drones. The e-commerce giant announced on Wednesday that customers in College Station, Texas, can now receive their medications within an hour of ordering, thanks to drone deliveries. The drone will fly from a secure pharmacy delivery center to the customer’s location, descend to about 13 feet, and drop a padded package containing the prescription. Amazon boasts a wide variety of more than 500 medications to choose from, including treatments for common conditions like the flu and pneumonia, although controlled substances are not included.
Amazon’s Prime Air division began testing drone deliveries of everyday household items in College Station and Lockeford, California, last December. According to Amazon spokesperson Jessica Bardoulas, the service has been successful, with thousands of deliveries made. While Amazon Prime already offers two-day delivery for some medications from its own pharmacy, Vice President John Love acknowledged that this doesn’t meet the needs of someone with an acute illness like the flu. He stated, “What we’re trying to do is figure out how we can deliver faster.”
Dr. Vin Gupta, Amazon’s Pharmacy Chief Medical Officer, explained that the US healthcare system often struggles with quickly diagnosing and treating patients with acute illnesses. By reducing the time between diagnosis and treatment, many therapies become more effective. While Amazon is not the first company to explore prescription deliveries by drone, CVS Health previously partnered with UPS to test such deliveries in North Carolina in 2019, and Intermountain Health began drone deliveries of prescriptions in the Salt Lake City area in 2021, expanding the program since then.
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Companies seeking to use drones for commercial purposes have faced regulatory challenges to ensure safe operations. Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, had predicted a decade ago that drones would be delivering packages by 2018. However, currently, Amazon only uses this technology in two markets. The drones will fly at a maximum height of 400 feet before descending slowly towards the customer’s home. Before dropping the package at the delivery location, the drone will verify that the area is clear of obstacles such as pets, children, or any other obstructions. While Amazon plans to expand the program to other markets, there is no specific timeframe for this expansion.
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