# Prescriptions bottles or punch out packs? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2017, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443 "2017-10-10T06:51:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/21 "2017-10-11T08:04:11Z")
I’ve done the pill container thing. I find it worse, since you have to portion out the pills, an extra step. I much prefer the blister pack. Sure, I have other medicines, but I take them all at the same time. So one blister pack is enough to keep track of all of them, without the extra time spent filling up the container. To be honest, I’ve still not gotten around to putting my pills in a container, even though I know I should now that I don’t have a blister pack. But it’s just something I want to put off due to the tedium. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/22 "2017-10-11T08:06:20Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > I’d be fine with blister packs if they didn’t require scissors to open, but those are increasingly rare. That’s why I specified the ones you can easily punch out. If it was a choice between bottles and the ones you have to cut, or even the ones you have to peel and punch, then I choose bottles. But the punch out ones were just so convenient to me. And my understanding was that they were more convenient for manufacturers and everyone else. So I’m surprised it went away. Well, I was until I saw the results of this thread. Y’all prefer bottles, and will just put them in pill calendar thing. That’s cool. It’s how I used to do things, too. I just liked the blister packs better. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/23 "2017-10-11T15:09:00Z")
I really don’t have a preference except when the blister packs have backing so tough that you have to have scissors or a knife to extract the pill. re: Ultrasmall pills. I’ve never understood that. They could easily add a fast dissolving filler to bring them up to a manageable size. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/24 "2017-10-11T15:19:08Z")
My med just switched from a blister pack to a bottle, too. I am happier with the bottle, although it does bother me that 30 tiny pills come in a bottle that could easily hold 300+ ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/25 "2017-10-11T15:48:12Z")
Not a big deal to me but I would rather have bottles of pills then tabs. Some work fine but many are just a pain in the neck to get open. Either way, easier to just open a bottle and get the pill. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/26 "2017-10-11T15:58:46Z")
Bottles, I guess. I take 9 pills a day (yeah, I’m under 40…) I think it would be a nuisance to pop 9 blister packs every day, and to store them. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/27 "2017-10-11T19:18:48Z")
> [@amaguri](#): > > it does bother me that 30 tiny pills come in a bottle that could easily hold 300+ Whenever I get my prescription refills by mail instead of in person, the bottles are always _huge_! I have Kaiser Permanente, so it’s the same company filling the prescriptions no matter where/how I get them. I really don’t understand it. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/28 "2017-10-11T20:06:46Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > re: Ultrasmall pills. I’ve never understood that. They could easily add a fast dissolving filler to bring them up to a manageable size. See, I would love it if I could get the filler out and all my meds shoved into one single capsule so all I needed to do is take one pill instead of a damned handful. But unfortunately TriCare doesn’t pay for custom bespoke compounding pharmacies … they won’t even pay for PillPak. _sigh_ Though on the plus side, as long as I get my meds at the base hospital, I get them _free_ - if I were without any form of insurance it would be $3000 a month to keep my sorry ass alive, as it is, it is something like $300 in copays if I get my meds out in town. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/29 "2017-10-11T22:31:17Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Whenever I get my prescription refills by mail instead of in person, the bottles are always _huge_! I have Kaiser Permanente, so it’s the same company filling the prescriptions no matter where/how I get them. I really don’t understand it. I’m sure it’s pure economics of scale. Cheaper to buy 10000 of one size bottle than 2500 of each of 4 sizes. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/30 "2017-10-12T16:36:21Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > I’m sure it’s pure economics of scale. > > Cheaper to buy 10000 of one size bottle than 2500 of each of 4 sizes. So why wouldn’t the in-person pharmacy also use oversize bottles? That’s the crux of what I don’t get – not so much the big bottles themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/31 "2017-10-15T06:24:01Z")
Maybe the in person pharmacy doesn’t buy enough bottles to get a significant break on pricing. Or having to store the bottles until they’re needed. Being able to store eight small bottles in the same space as one large one has to count for something when space is at a premium. Just my WAG. My experience with pharmacies is limited to me being a customer or working on their computer systems. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/32 "2017-10-15T15:05:06Z")
I’m in the over 50 crowd and I voted bottles. I despise those pill packages. They are sometimes so horrible to open if they have the little tab, or just don’t want to pop out all the way. I think they are hellish and I wish they had never, ever been invented. On another note, our pharmacy now does the lids that if you put it on one way it’s child resistant, if you put it on upside down it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/33 "2017-10-15T15:43:47Z")
I’m 42 and I hate blister packs with the fire of a thousand suns. Some pills I just have a bitch of a time trying to extract from the pack without accidentally shooting it across the room. And there’s other packs that I need to get the knife out for because they’re apparently made out of indestructible foil. Please, gimme my meds in bottles. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443/34 "2017-10-15T15:58:59Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Maybe the in person pharmacy doesn’t buy enough bottles to get a significant break on pricing. Same company (all Kaiser Permanente), so I don’t think this is it. But… > [@Projammer](#): > > Or having to store the bottles until they’re needed. Being able to store eight small bottles in the same space as one large one has to count for something when space is at a premium. OMG that would totally make sense. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prescriptions-bottles-or-punch-out-packs/798443.md?page=1)