An automated drug dispensing system includes a cabinet adapted to store a
variety of prepackaged pharmaceuticals in a plurality of bins for filling
patient prescriptions. Each bin stores a particular variety of packaged
multiple-dose pharmaceutical. Each variety of pharmaceutical is
associated with a particular code. A controller receives request signals
and in response generates dispense signals. Each bin includes a dispenser
coupled to the controller for dispensing the packaged pharmaceuticals
therefrom in response to a dispense signal sent from the controller.
After a package is dispensed, a code reader determines the code of the
dispensed package and verifies whether the code on the dispensed package
matches the code of the requested package.