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Prescrire International May 2012Every year, Prescrire's analysis of drug packaging confirms the importance of taking packaging into account in assessing a drug's harm-benefit balance. Safe, tried and... (Review)
Review
Every year, Prescrire's analysis of drug packaging confirms the importance of taking packaging into account in assessing a drug's harm-benefit balance. Safe, tried and true options are available, yet the quality of most of the drug packaging Prescrire examined in 2011 left much to be desired. Few of the packaging items examined help prevent medication errors and many actually increase the risks: misleading and confusing labelling, dosing devices that create a risk of overdose, bottles without a child-proof cap, and inadequate or dangerous patient information leaflets. Umbrella brands continue to expand and are a potential source of medication errors. Some patients are at greater risk: the patient leaflets for NSAIDs endanger pregnant women and their unborn babies; children are insufficiently protected by paediatric packaging and are at risk due to the lack of child-proof caps on too many bottles. The raft of regulatory measures taken by the French drug regulatory agency (Afssaps) in the aftermath of the Mediator disaster overlooked the importance of packaging. Until drug regulatory agencies tackle the vast issue of drug packaging, it is up to healthcare professionals to protect patients from harm.
Topics: Drug Labeling; Drug Packaging; Humans; Medication Errors; Patient Safety
PubMed: 22827008
DOI: No ID Found -
CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association... Mar 1997
Topics: Canada; Drug Labeling; Drug Packaging; Nonprescription Drugs
PubMed: 9084377
DOI: No ID Found -
Prescrire International Dec 2012
Topics: Decision Making; Drug Industry; Drug Labeling; Drug Packaging; Humans; Medication Errors; Patient Safety
PubMed: 23373090
DOI: No ID Found -
Prescrire International May 2013Drug packaging plays an important role in protecting and providing information to patients. The packaging examined by Prescrire in 2012, on the whole, still fails to... (Review)
Review
Drug packaging plays an important role in protecting and providing information to patients. The packaging examined by Prescrire in 2012, on the whole, still fails to perform all of these functions effectively. Two issues are especially worrisome. First, packaging too often poses a danger to children. In addition, too many patient leaflets provide incomplete information about adverse effects, thus failing to properly protect the most vulnerable patients. Yet, the method Prescrire used to analyse drug packaging shows that it is not difficult to detect and anticipate risks. It is up to healthcare professionals to take advantage of the method, to protect patients from, and report, dangerous packaging.
Topics: Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Child; Drug Industry; Drug Labeling; Drug Packaging; Female; Humans; Patient Education as Topic; Pediatrics; Poisoning; Pregnancy
PubMed: 23819184
DOI: No ID Found -
Home Healthcare Now
Topics: Humans; Drug Packaging; Medication Errors; Product Packaging; Drug Labeling
PubMed: 37144934
DOI: 10.1097/NHH.0000000000001170 -
The American Journal of Forensic... Mar 2019A systematic review of the literature regarding drug packaging methods in body packing and materials used is presented, with the aim (a) to summarize data regarding the...
A systematic review of the literature regarding drug packaging methods in body packing and materials used is presented, with the aim (a) to summarize data regarding the packaging methods adopted by drug trafficking organizations, (b) to support forensic pathologists and police forces to classify and describe drug packages, (c) to propose a new classification for drug packaging techniques, and (d) to better clarify the impact of packaging methods on radiological detectability.Packaging methods have been described in 2981 cases, permitting us to summarize the different materials used and to propose a new classification for packaging method based on the materials used. Information concerning the affiliation of body packers and pushers with major (or not) drug trafficking organizations and techniques used to reduce the radiological detectability of the concealed drugs have also been collected.Besides the packaging methods described over the years, our study suggests a standardized approach for the description of drug packages based on the use of different materials and packaging procedures, which provide a possible insight to the type of drug trafficking organization involved.
Topics: Body Packing; Drug Packaging; Drug Trafficking; Foreign Bodies; Forensic Medicine; Humans; Illicit Drugs
PubMed: 30308547
DOI: 10.1097/PAF.0000000000000436 -
BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.) Aug 1995
Topics: Drug Labeling; Drug Packaging; Humans; Medication Errors
PubMed: 7647678
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.311.7003.514d -
Anesthesiology Jul 1981
Topics: Drug Packaging; Medication Errors
PubMed: 7247068
DOI: 10.1097/00000542-198107000-00025 -
Prescrire International Jun 2016Prescrire examined the packaging quality of 240 drugs in 2015. No new advances were identified, but drug packaging continues to expose patients to a variety of dangers....
Prescrire examined the packaging quality of 240 drugs in 2015. No new advances were identified, but drug packaging continues to expose patients to a variety of dangers. Some past advances persist: for example, INNs are often more legible, and recent patient leaflets tend to be clearer and more informative. But these measures are not applied to all drugs, and are rarely applied retroactively to older drugs. The overall picture in 2015 is that many drugs are difficult to identify, risky or downright dangerous to prepare, or supplied with patient leaflets that fail to correctly inform patients about their medication. And measures to prevent drug poisoning in children need to be completely rethought. It is high time for regulators and policy makers to take the issue of drug packaging seriously, so blatant are the signs of their failure to do so: the increasing use of bulk bottles for new drugs; failure to implement guidelines on safe drug packaging (unit-dose presentations, appropriate dosing devices, etc.); and expanding umbrella brands which, given the dangers they pose to patients, should be banned instead. All things considered, healthcare professionals and patients must remain vigilant and report any dangers they identify. A major European initiative on drug packaging is becoming increasingly necessary.
Topics: Drug Industry; Drug Labeling; Drug Packaging
PubMed: 27486651
DOI: No ID Found -
Prescrire International May 2015In 2014, Prescrire examined the packaging quality of about 250 drugs. A few advances stand out, mainly involving recent drugs, but on the whole, the situation is...
In 2014, Prescrire examined the packaging quality of about 250 drugs. A few advances stand out, mainly involving recent drugs, but on the whole, the situation is worrisome in terms of medication safety. Although pharmaceutical companies and drug regulatory agencies seem to be taking more account of the risk of accidental poisoning in children, the level of protection remains low overall in the absence of stringent measures on the part of the authorities. New drugs too often have poor-quality or even dangerous packaging at the time of their market introduction. And the packaging quality of older drugs is disturbing. Pharmaceutical companies no longer invest in the packaging of these products, and agencies often fail to take advantage of the opportunities provided by their reassessment to improve the situation. The inappropriate labelling of certain injectable drugs remains a source of medication errors, sometimes resulting in very serious consequences. In 2014, signs of progress in the packaging of several drugs show that its role in medication safety is better appreciated. But the persistence of dangers in the pharmaceuticals market, created by "unfinished", overly complex or poor-quality packaging, raises the question of the responsibility of pharmaceutical companies and agencies for past and present accidents.
Topics: Drug Labeling; Drug Packaging; Medication Errors
PubMed: 26034808
DOI: No ID Found