OK, I can come to terms with the certain knowledge that every single person in America (probably including myself) has one single aim in life: to sneak into drugstores and tamper with pharmaceuticals.
So the pharmaceuticals must be packaged to make them resistant to unauthorized doses of, say, itching powder.
I understand that and actually think it’s a good idea.
I also recognize that most children spend all their time ransacking the house looking for medication to ingest.
So the packaging has to reduce the risks of that, as well, because as careful as people might be, it takes one moment of inattention and one package of improperly stashed medication to lead to tragedy.
But is there a happy medium?
I mean, if I go to the pharmacy to get a prescription, and swear on the graves of my 4 most recently-deceased ancestors that I’ve never even THOUGHT of having kids in my house and would simply shoot a childe the minute he or she walked in my door, to prevent him/her from accidental poisoning from my medication, I can get them to put a non-childproof cap on the bottle of pills.
That, unfortunately, is not an option with over-the-counter products. Some of them - like aspirin etc. - sometimes come with easy-open lids which makes sense since a fair percentage of the people who need the stuff can’t, you know, manage the bottle because of the arthritis which makes them need the product.
Others - and yes, Proctor and Gamble, I mean your Prilosec OTC product - come in blister packages. Because GOD FORBID the product should come in a nifty pill bottle where, you know, you could simply line up the little arrows, pop the top off, get your medicine out, and in 2 seconds, you’ve got your medication and haven’t injured yourself, taught your kid new four-letter words, or damaged the product.
I know, some folks LIKE a challenge. Some folks LIKE the idea that you have to tear loose one strip of plastic from another, imperfectly perforated so you have to wrestle them apart. Some folks LIKE to live dangerously and find the sharp jagged edges of said plastic strips to be an especial thrill. Possibly the product works better if accompanied by a drop or two of blood. Possibly Proctor and Gamble sells nail polish, which is required to touch up the manicure which got ruined attempting to open the package, so they’re really trying to beef up their own bottom line, and hey, they’re good folks so I think that’s entirely reasonable (though maybe that blood sacrifice is required by the satanic rituals the company is famed for). Some folks may get a special laugh out of the festive strips of white and gray confetti which decorate the floor once they’ve opened one dose of the product.
But I’M NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE. I want a product that’s available for use as intended. I want a product I don’t have to spend 20 minutes trying to use.
Oh - and their line about “for child safety”? Tylenol (and generics) come in pop-cap bottles, the kind you just have to line up the arrows on and pop off with your thumb. EVEN THE FLAVORED CHEWABLE ONES THAT KIDS LOVE!
Yes, that’s right. A medication which is KNOWN to have caused liver failure and probably a few deaths when taken in overdose - as a child might do if he got those candylike pills in his hand - and one which is especially likely to be in an accessible area in a household with children - is in a comparatively easy to open package, relying on common sense and reasonable caution. Whereas Prilosec, well, “Reports have been received of overdosage with omeprazole in humans. Doses ranged up to 2400 mg (120 times the usual recommended clinical dose). Manifestations were variable, but included confusion, drowsiness, blurred vision, tachycardia, nausea, vomiting, diaphoresis, flushing, headache, dry mouth, and other adverse reactions similar to those seen in normal clinical experience. (See ADVERSE REACTIONS.) Symptoms were transient, and no serious clinical outcome has been reported”. Er, that’s 120 times the recommended dose. Not a small bottleful.
I have much the same issue with my iron supplements. And most days, I simply don’t bother with them because of the hassle. Pssst - pharmaceutical company - if I can’t finish the product I’ve already bought, I’m NOT GOING TO NEED TO BUY ANY MORE. (note: I do really see the reasoning behind the iron pills - apparently the stuff is slightly safer than pure cyanide when taken in overdose, it’s really nasty if kids get hold of it - but again, surely there’s a step short of MAKING THE PRODUCT UNUSABLE?).