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Published by WBAL | February 25, 2025

A University of Maryland team is testing the delivery of medications via drones to people when traditional methods aren’t available.

The team is flying prescription medications to residents of remote areas like Smith Island, which lies 10 miles west of Crisfield on the Eastern Shore and is home to just 200 people — many of whom are older and homebound.

“The Eastern Shore of Maryland, it all shares the same kind of challenges out there: They’re all rural, kind of distant. A lot of people are pretty isolated out there,” said John Slaughter, director of the University of Maryland Unmanned Aircraft Systems Research and Operations Center, who spoke exclusively with 11 News Investigates about his team’s mission.

Medications currently delivered once daily — weather permitting

When Smith Island residents need a prescription, it must be sent via ferry, and those deliveries come just once daily, weather permitting.

“That’s a big medical challenge, and when the waters out there freeze — and they just did in January again — the boats don’t run. It makes it even tougher,” Slaughter told 11 News Investigates. “There was a patient out there on the island (who) ran out of their insulin. (Crews) couldn’t run a boat to get insulin. (Officials) ended up taking a state police helicopter that needed to bring that insulin out to the island. That’s a pretty major mobilization. That’s a pretty expensive way to deliver a prescription.”

That inspired Slaughter, a retired Navy pilot, to pursue a medical drop pilot program that’s now ready to launch thanks to a $1.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The UROC team of engineers and pilots certified by the Federal Aviation Administration build and test drone technology. The new program will work to speed up medical shipments to and from remote communities.

“That’s a big medical challenge, and when the waters out there freeze…the boats don’t run.”

Slaughter is recruiting the expertise of Dr. Rozalina McCoy, director of precision medicine and population health at the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing.

“I was immediately just thrilled to be able to be a part of it and help it grow because I think it’s the future,” McCoy told 11 News Investigates.

Doctor envisions drones as safe, fast, cheaper way to save lives

McCoy, an endocrinologist, treats patients and leads research into health care delivery. She believes drones can address a gap in care that’s often found in rural areas. She envisions drones as a safer, faster, cheaper, more reliable alternative that can help save lives.

“In a place like Smith Island, where it’s hard to restock — especially in the wintertime — I think having a drone being able to deliver those supplies can keep my patients alive, even if something does go wrong,” McCoy told 11 News Investigates.

Slaughter told 11 News Investigates that his team’s work is just the beginning as he would like to see the mission scaled up to become regional, and he’s far from alone in that aspiration.

“I think having a drone being able to deliver those supplies can keep my patients alive.”

In 2019, transplant surgeon Dr. Joseph Scalea ran a busy organ transplant program at the University of Maryland. He wanted to streamline organ delivery, and so he and UROC made history by teaming up with the University of Maryland Medical Center to successfully transport a kidney donation by drone for the first time.

“It struck me that there’s got to be a better way to do this,” Scalea told 11 News Investigates.

Though now at a different institution, Scalea remains focused on the work he started in Maryland.

“After doing the first one in Baltimore in 2019, we’re here to continue that study,” Scalea told 11 News Investigates. “Technologies like the ones that we’re working on here are not just a nice to have; they’re a necessity if we’re going to expand the transplant network that we have in the United States, which is already wonderful, but can be so much more.”

Obstacles block drone deliveries from really taking off. Here’s why

There are some obstacles before drone deliveries can really take off. Currently, an FAA rule requires pilots to keep drones in their line of sight, limiting how far the drones can travel. There are efforts to change that rule, which would lead to what Slaughter called an “aviation revolution.”

“This isn’t just about people on isolated islands. So, there are a lot of people that are isolated in their homes. That happens in city and rural areas alike,” Slaughter told 11 News Investigates.

Research for the pilot program is underway, which will be followed by months of testing before a drone can begin flying medical supplies across the water to Smith Island. Slaughter told 11 News that work, along with the newly formed Maryland Advanced Air Mobility Council, of which Slaughter is a member, will soon propel the use of drones in Maryland to new heights.

“When this technology arrives and is knocking on the door of Maryland or is enticed to come to Maryland, we’ll be ready for it,” Slaughter told 11 News Investigates.

Ultimately, Slaughter said he hopes to one day see the entire Chesapeake Bay area transform into a drone-delivery hub that transcends health care.

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