Electrotransport Delivery Device Having Improved Safety and Reduced Abuse Potential

An electrotransport device for delivering a therapeutic agent comprising:

• a power source;
• first and second electrodes and reservoirs, at least one of the reservoirs containing the therapeutic agent;
• a current generating and controlling circuit configured to output no current flow when a current signal to the current controlling circuit is low and to generate current flow when the control signal to the current controlling circuit is high;
• a current disabling circuit in communication with the current generating and controlling circuit, the current disabling circuit configured to output only a high signal or a low signal to respectively enable or disable the current generating and controlling circuit from supplying current to the electrodes, the current disabling circuit further including a circuit disabling element configured to provide an automatic, permanent and irreversible function to change the output from a high signal to a low signal and to permanently and irreversibly disable the current generating and controlling circuit from supplying current to the electrodes.
• a manually activated switch for activating the current generating and controlling circuit to generate said electric current for delivering the agent by electrotransport;
• a sensor to sense a body parameter of a patient to which the device is applied, the sensor providing a disabling signal when the sensed body parameter reaches some predetermined level;
• the circuit disabling element being responsive to the disabling signal for automatically and irreversibly disabling the electrotransport current generating and controlling circuit upon receiving said disabling signal.