Whether or not it makes us comfortable, pharmaceuticals are playing an increasingly large part in our lives. Nearly 50% of Americans have taken at least one drug that can’t be found over the counter in the past month, and doctors fill around 2.6 billion prescriptions annually. We all practically plan for a follow-up trip to the pharmacist after a doctor’s appointment, because we know that most trips to the doctor end with writing a prescription. There are many ways to do medicine, and this is how America does it.
So, what does this mean? Well, it means that, whether you’re a pharmacist or a patient, you need to be careful of what you’re taking. Faulty pharma packaging can lead to contaminated medicine and makes counterfeiting drugs much easier. We know, you probably don’t think twice about your pharma packaging when you either pick up or order your drugs. You’re too concerned with bottle filling at lightning speed or whether or not the clinical trial material supply the doctor gave you will work. To our mind though, pharma packaging should be the first thing you check, and you should almost always choose or request blister packaging.
What is blister packaging?
The central feature of blister packaging is the pocket made by formable plastic. This pocket is usually covered in a thin, flexible layer of tin foil that can be easily peeled off. (Many allergy meds are packaged like this, for instance). When it comes to pharma packaging, we believe that blister packaging is the best because:
1. It’s durable.
The flexible plastic and foil combination can take a surprising beating, especially at the bottom of a purse or shoved deep inside a medicine cabinet.
2. It’s harder to contaminate.
Unlike bottles, which can technically be opened or closed at will and the safety seal tampered with, you can immediately tell if one of the single dose blister packages have been compromised. Simply look for a tear or an irregularity in the foil or surrounding plastic cavity. It would be much harder to mess with a blister package and then try to cover it up, because often the foil is connected to the other cavities, meaning if one section is messed up, the whole medicine card is suspect.
3. It keeps us more organized.
With blister packaging, you don’t need an overwhelming box labeled with the days of the week, and you don’t need to constantly read the back of the bottle to remember what a dose is. Each dose is pre-measured and pre-packed. There’s often even directions right on the foil separating you from the single dose, and you can usually tear away single doses from a whole sheet for convenient purse storage.
4. And for all the pharmacists out there…
Not for nothing, but blister packaging is cheap and highly customizable, with different size and color options to aid in supply chain management and branding.
We live in a big, complicated, pharmaceutically charged world. We may not always know all the ingredients in our drugs or where exactly they come from, but with blister packaging, you help ensure that what you’re taking or selling is safe and legitimate.
