There have been several different issues in the past where the specific type of packaging selected for a medication has resulted in a recall of that medication. This has often included small shards or flakes of glass or plastic that ended up in the bottles during the filling and packaging process.
Another issue, known as glass delamination, can also occur when medications are packaged, stored and sold in glass bottles. This occurs when the drug reacts with the inner layers of glass over time. The reaction will detach or remove a thin layer of glass from the inside of the container, leaving it in contact with the medication. Of course, this poses a risk to the patient and also leads to recalls and liability for the pharmaceutical company.
Blister Pack Options
To avoid these issues with glass bottles, many pharmaceutical manufacturers are working closely with pharmaceutical packaging companies to create safe, innovative and effective packaging options. Blister pack medication packaging is one answer to many of the issues of the past, offering high reliability and dramatically reducing the risk of any type of packaging recall.
Early Planning
If your company is planning to switch from glass or plastic bulk containers to blister pack medication packaging options, start working with a specialized packaging company early in the process.
This will allow both teams to work together to develop not only the right type of blister pack medication packaging but also for any considerations that need to be addressed with regards to the medication. This could include specialized materials to eliminate light exposure through the packaging or to create child-resistant packaging for specific types of medications.
Early planning also allows for full consideration of the design of the packaging, the layout of the individual blister cards and even the selection of how many dosages will be provided on each card.