# Why do they put prescriptions in too big bottles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 11, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197 "2014-05-11T16:58:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197/21 "2014-05-15T16:26:37Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I’d be pissed beyond redemption if I had to deal with blister packs for every pill I take. I hate those fucking things. Happiest day of my life was when I found 60-count Claritin bottles at the store. They last me a year, but I don’t have to deal with the blister packs. American blister packs are insane - I think FDA requires that they be tough enough to withstand small arms fire an impenetrable enough to transport the Ebola virus. European packs are much lighter and thinner; I could push a pill out with my pinkie. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197/22 "2014-05-15T16:49:15Z")
The first thing that came to my mind was that someone thinks the pills shouldn’t need to be individually handled. I suppose there might be some low-percentage chance of germy digits leaving some kind of virus or bacteria amongst a pile of pills. There also is an issue with many older folks of rheumatism or arthritis reducing the efficacy of the fine motor control of their fingers for plucking individual tablets from a small container. In order to easily tip over a pill bottle and have only one or two constituents come out, it makes sense to have a less-full bottle to minimize the probability of a mess of capsules on the counter. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197/23 "2014-05-15T17:24:05Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Interesting from a foreigners point of view (UK) - we get hardly anything in decanted bottles any more, every prescription I’ve had in the last 15 years has come in a [blister pack](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=pills+blister+pack&es_sm=91&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=QsNwU4KRBo2xPN6GgdgL&ved=0CFoQsAQ&biw=1216&bih=891)/cardboard box. So the pharmacist doesn’t count any pills individually. For some reason my husband hates these. He brings them home, and then pushes them all out and puts them in an empty pill bottle (left over from before they came in blister packs, so the bottle is labelled). I don’t know why he dislikes them, but at least it’s only one or two of his seven or so meds. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197/24 "2014-05-15T18:27:39Z")
Re prescriptions in blister packs - what if your prescription is for some non-standard number of pills? > [@kaltkalt](#): > > At small, independent pharmacies i’ve seen them do a better job. I’ve also seen them use the manufacturer’s bottle rather than throwing it out and putting the Rx in a store “orange” bottle. If you get a Rx for 100 Medopills and the manufacturer ships them out in bottles of 100, then they’ll just put a Rx label on the manufacturer’s Medopill bottle rather than wasting an empty orange store bottle. Walgreens and CVS will almost never do this. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some federal regulation against it, just to keep things expensive and inefficient (something something black market something something children…) My pharmacy does this and they are definitely not independent - the it’s a supermarket pharmacy, and the supermarket is part of a huge chain. Maybe CVS et al require their pharmacists to always use the orange bottle as a way to standardize things. It would take an element out of “pharmacist’s discretion” out of the equation. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197/25 "2014-05-15T20:12:05Z")
My prescriptions come in factory sealed bottles, and they are way too big. The pharmacist does nothing but take the bottle off the shelf and staple it into a bag. When I order a year’s supply of vitamins on line, they send 12 bottles, all way way too big, with 30 little pills in each one. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197/26 "2014-05-16T00:54:55Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Re prescriptions in blister packs - what if your prescription is for some non-standard number of pills? Here (and presumably everywhere else) the blister packs are perforated, so they can just give you, say, 3 packs and then a third of a pack or whatever depending on your prescription. The standard procedure here (Japan) is to print out a sheet of paper that has color photos of each pill next to dosing instructions and other information (indications, side effects, warnings). Pills come in blister packs, powders and patches come in sachets, etc. Each of these are sorted into paper envelopes based on dosing. For example, you might have one envelope that contains two or three medicines that says “Take Morning, Afternoon, and Evening after meals” and another envelope that says “Take morning and evening” or “Take only when necessary.” ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197/27 "2014-05-16T08:22:58Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Re prescriptions in blister packs - what if your prescription is for some non-standard number of pills? > > My pharmacy does this and they are definitely not independent - the it’s a supermarket pharmacy, and the supermarket is part of a huge chain. > > Maybe CVS et al require their pharmacists to always use the orange bottle as a way to standardize things. It would take an element out of “pharmacist’s discretion” out of the equation. In the UK, at least, some blister packs can be broken into sections, so if you have an unusual number prescribed for you (I once had three tiny diazepam pills prescribed as a temporary measure to help deal with pain) they just break the blister pack down to however many are needed. Each blister pack only holds a few pills anyway, so it’s easy enough to give more or fewer packs. That only goes for prescribed medicines, and only some of them - over-the-counter painkillers tend to be in blister packs that can’t be separated. Just thought I’d mention that in case someone says “I’ve never seen a breakable blister pack.” Blister packs can be quite difficult for arthritic fingers, but so can unscrewing child-safe medicine bottles. I have someone take a load out and put them in an easy access daily pill dispenser, which I think is pretty common for people on multiple medications; RA usually requires more than one med. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197/28 "2014-05-16T09:19:38Z")
Mrs Bob++ take quite a lot of meds (God knows what it would cost in the USA?) and most are pills which come in blisters. The daft thing is that the blisters are then put into cardboard boxes. Like the OP with the bottles, the boxes are often far larger than they need to be. The first thing she does, is to take all the blisters out and put them into a plastic bag for easy access. Then she peels off the labels and recycles the box. Her fingers are not good, but she has no problem with the blisters, other than, rarely, a tiny pill shoots across the room and has to be hunted down. As far as quantities go - the manufacturers pack the blisters in the usual doses - 3 a day would be packed in 21s for example. And yes - the pharmacist will take a pair of scissors to them if they have to. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197/29 "2014-05-16T16:09:18Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > For my blood pressure medication, I’m not kidding, they could put three or four years worth in one of the 90-day bottles I get. How old are you, **excavating**? Do you maybe look like you’d have trouble opening a tiny little bottle (i.e. arthritis)? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197/30 "2014-05-16T16:49:59Z")
Thanks for the explanation on the blister packs. > [@SciFiSam](#): > > Blister packs can be quite difficult for arthritic fingers, but so can unscrewing child-safe medicine bottles. The bottles from my pharmacy have lids that can go both ways. In other words, they have child-safe caps, but they are threaded so that you can turn them over and use them as regular screw-on lids. Clever design. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197/31 "2014-05-20T12:40:59Z")
Try shaking out one pill from a bottle that is nearly full – you’ll probably get half a dozen tumbling out and maybe a few on the floor. Now try it with a larger bottle that is half full. That’s probably at least part of the reason. If you look at typical mass-produced vitamins, the bottles are often about half full – at least they are around here. It used to be common for pill bottles to come stuffed with cotton to keep the pills from rattling around but keep that extra space. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-they-put-prescriptions-in-too-big-bottles/688197.md?page=1)