The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7190 p385-391
23 March 2002

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British Medical Journal (www.bmj.com)

Call for uniformity in packaging

The author of a letter to the BMJ calls for uniformity in the design of drug packaging to reduce confusion for patients (16 March).

Michael Rigby, senior lecturer at the Centre for Health Planning and Management, Keele University, writes: "The pharmaceutical industry seems to be dominated by packaging initiatives that unnecessarily compromise patient compliance and safety."

He describes the case of a middle-aged man who was prescribed six medicines for the treatment of hypertension. Mr Rigby points out that all the drugs are packaged in blister packs but that no two packaging designs follow the same format. Some packs cover one week, some two and the tablets are presented as either parallel rows or round the pack. Most packs are printed on the foil side, one is printed on the blister side and one on both.

"The utter confusion is clear ... patients are unnecessarily put at risk by design inventiveness," Mr Rigby concludes.