When we think about medications, most of us don’t spend much time thinking about the packaging of those medications. However, the evolution of pharmaceutical containers has had a great deal to do with how the industry has evolved and grown.
In the last 30 years, innovations in pharmaceutical packaging have made medications safer, through safer packaging. Most of us cannot remember a time before medication bottles had childproof lids, but when these were first introduced, they offered a revolution in medication safety. Newer containers with childproof lids meant parents no longer had to store medicines so far out of the way that they were likely to forget to take them just to keep them away from their children.
Since that time, pharmaceutical companies have relied on container companies to help ensure consumer safety and to help make dosing more convenient, as well. Perforated blister packs offer convenience for consumers, as well as making hospital dosing more efficient. With a blister pack, it’s much easier to take a single dose of medicine with you when you leave home.
Blister packs have also helped ensure correct dosing. Single doses in single blister packs work well for older people or others who might get easily confused about how much medicine is in a single dose. This kind of packaging makes the medication safer, as there is less likelihood of patient overdosing. In addition, blister packs are tightly sealed, which ensures they are difficult for children and pets to get into, making it less likely your child or pet will accidently ingest medicine.
Pharmaceuticals have certainly come a long way in the last few decades. However, pharmaceutical containers have come a long way as well, and their improvement has had just as much to do with the increased safety of medications as the innovations in the medications themselves.
