The Wastefulness of Over The Counter Drug's Packaging Really Bugs Me!

July 14, 2021

#429

Gentle reader, 

While this article has nothing to do with collecting, I decided to write to you about something that has bothered me for a long time. 

I do wonder whether you TOO have noticed that almost ALL packaging of "O.T.C." drugs are EXACTLY the same size. Well have you? Why IS that?

And it's not just drugs, MOST "like items"* in grocery stores almost always have packaging that is the SAME size.

I understand that it is done uniformly in order to present neat and appealing shelves to the customers. And having some OCD tendencies, I applaud that, however...

Another thing, while we are on this topic. Non-prescription drugs are often referred to as "O.T.C." Which stand for: Over The Counter.

YET, almost none (an exception is nasal decongestants which contain the ingredient that can be converted to illegal drugs) of these "O.T.C." drugs ARE actually behind the counter! They are ALL arrayed in nice, neat rows, shoulder-to-shoulder for you to search through and find JUST the one you came in for.

SO, in my humble opinion, they should be called: O.T.S., for: Off The Shelf! Will they adopt my corrected designation? I'm not holding my breath.

*"Like items" means the same type of products or foods which are made and sold by numerous manufacturers, such as breakfast cereals, chips, crackers, cookies, pasta, sauces, the list can go on and on. Walk down the breakfast cereal aisle and you will see that largely, all the boxes are the same size and shape.

Some years ago, I found that I sometimes had trouble swallowing food and even water. The first time it happened, I thought that I was having a heart attack! The pressure in the middle of my chest, however, was caused by a full esophagus, but I did not know that right then. I went to the bathroom and was able to cough back up what was stuck. WTH?

Because I am a man, I ignored the problem for a while until FINALLY making an appointment with my doctor. He gave me a referral to have an endoscopic look down my throat.

They put me under for it, and after I awoke, they played me the video which showed a ring of scar tissue right above the sphincter at the bottom of my throat. Did YOU know there is a sphincter which walls off the stomach until the food/drink is on the way down to it? Neither did I. It makes perfect sense though. Ever burp and taste bile? That is the stomach acid which was pushed up your throat by the burp.

The diagnosis: Acid Reflux. Other than that whole, not-being-able-to-swallow thing, I had no other symptoms.

So, they prescribed Prilosec for me. Which did the trick. Eventually, the patent expired and Omeprazole began to be made and sold as a generic drug under COUNTLESS brand names.

NOW, the tablets of this drug are small. They are sold in bi-weekly doses of fourteen tablets. Small pills, small package and/or bottle right? Yes, and no. How much space can fourteen tiny tablets possibly take up?

(NOTE: These first three photos I found on the Internet because I wanted to show the PACKAGING they come in.)

NOTE: I edited out the brand names from the products in the photos. No free advertising here.

As you can see, there are THREE bottles inside the package. EACH contain fourteen tiny tablets and a larger plastic cylinder which contains a descant to absorb any moisture in the bottles.

This photo is from an eBay auction and conveniently has the three bottles outside the box. And, interestingly, the box is smaller. Which country could it be from?

This photo shows three bottles with one open and laid down with fourteen, count 'em, fourteen tablets. Note ALL the empty space in that bottle!

An actual tablet is seen at the lower right corner of the photo and the ACTUAL size of the bottles that come in the three-packs which are shown in the three Internet-found photos above.

I kid you not, ALL FORTY-TWO tablets fit comfortably in that little bottle WITH room left over for a descant cylinder! Yet, they INSIST upon selling the doses of fourteen tablets. No matter how many one is buying.

Even though these products are made in MANY countries and the makers had ZERO development costs, the PRICES vary widely for them. This box was purchased at our local grocery store for much more that Amazon sells them for. But I am trying NOT to help Jeff Bezos get richer, so I buy locally.

This is how thick the box is, front to back, above. Note that the three-bottle box is just a tad thicker than the bottles, so not nearly as large, front to back, as this box.

What's THIS? THREE more individual BOXES inside the box? Yes, indeed, and look, they were made in Israel!

Why yes, that IS exactly what there is inside the box! And EACH of those boxes is labeled that they are not to be sold separately. Which means they have TWO separate printings for these boxes verses the fourteen day packaging.

And HERE is a large foil pack hiding fourteen tablets.

Remember that bottles come with ONLY fourteen tablets in each one as do the boxes with the foil packs hidden within them.  

And lastly, here is the stack of THREE foil packs next to the TINY bottle which CAN contain them ALL and a descant!

Think how often, when you have opened a brand new cereal box or back of chips and find so much AIR in them? "Some settling may occur during shipment." Which is their CTB statement. Cover their Butts.

OK, I'm done bitching. I just wanted to get it off my chest how much it bothers me how manufacturers WASTE in creating colorful and enticing packaging for their products.

Thanks for taking the time to read my humble blog. I REALLY appreciate it! Feel free to share a link to this article with your friends.

Scott

July 14, 2021

#429