The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 272 No 7282 p53
17 January 2004

This article
Reprint
Photocopy

PDF* 90K

  Statin switch
  Dispensing
  Packaging
  Amateur radio
  Reciprocity
  Onlooker
  The Charter
  The Journal

Letters to the Editor

Packaging

From the perspective of an elderly carer

From Mr A. G. Hopkins, MRPharmS

I have read many articles on medicines for the elderly, and a lot of them, possibly researched by younger people, seem to miss a vital point: consultation with the elderly consumer.

Having served four score years and ten, I am classed as the official carer of my 91-year-old wife who suffers many of the ailments of old age, such as disablement, glaucoma, deafness, etc. She has to have medication which I supervise. My main annoyance is the blister pack which, for the elderly, is a menace. I would suggest that a younger researcher dons a pair of heavy duty gardening gloves and then tries to open a blister pack.

There are other problems with blister packs: small tablets easily get lost because the pressure required to pop the blister often means the tablet ends up on the floor and cannot be found. I have solved this problem by carrying out the task over a basin.

The use of oversize blister packs containing minute tablets can be a problem because pressing the blister does not break the seal and we have to resort to scissors.

Blister packs may be manufacturers’ answer to supply but the bottle is still best, in my view.

I often wonder how lonely old people without a knowledgeable carer manage. I am sure most medicines are wasted and the GP is often misled as to the efficacy of a particular regimen, often prescribed by a consultant.

A. G. Hopkins
Aldershot, Hampshire

Refuse to order outsize packs for stock

From Mr K. K. Upadhyaya, MRPharmS

Peter Beckley asks why packs are getting bigger (PJ, 13 December 2003, p812). Although parallel imports remain a problem, the solution for generics is quite simple: when ordering, simply specify that a particular brand should not be supplied. When the companies using outsize packaging find that none of their stocks are being reordered, they may reconsider their packaging strategies.

I note with interest that, however large the packaging becomes, there still remains insufficient room to attach a normal sized dispensing label without obliterating important information.

Kamlesh Upadhyaya
Elstree, Hertfordshire

Send your letter to The Editor

Previous Topic (Dispensing)
Next Topic (Amateur radio)