A realistic user interface is rigorously developed for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Generic Patient Controlled Analgesia (GPCA) pump prototype. The GPCA pump prototype is intended as a realistic workbench for trialling development methods and techniques for improving the safety of such devices. A model-based approach based on the use of formal methods is illustrated and implemented within the Prototype Verification System (PVS) verification system. The user interface behaviour is formally specified as an executable PVS model. The specification is verified with the PVS theorem prover against relevant safety requirements provided by the FDA for the GPCA pump. The same specification is automatically translated into executable code through the PVS code generator, and hence a high fidelity prototype is then developed that incorporates the generated executable code.