Problems with Medicine Packages: Experiences Reported to a Dutch Medicine Reporting System

BACKGROUND: Practical issues such as ease of use and packaging appear to cause significant problems in daily use of medicines, but there are only few published studies about these aspects of medicine use. OBJECTIVE: To assess the type of experiences related to practical aspects of medicine use reported to an Internet-based medicine reporting system (www.meldpuntmedicijnen.nl). METHODS: All reports submitted from May 2004 to December 2007 to an Internet-based medicine reporting system in the Netherlands related to practical aspects of drug use were analyzed. The experiences were grouped into the following categories: difficulty with opening the package, other difficulties with use, and problems with printed text on packages and the information leaflet. RESULTS: Of the 5175 individuals who submitted a report, 530 submitted 611 reports on practical aspects of medicine use. More than half of the reports concerned difficulties with the opening of packages, mostly about opening blister packages (46.2%). One third of the reports were related to other problems with use, mainly package size (13.0%) and preference for different packaging (8.5%). About 1 in 10 reports was related to the printing and information on packages, mostly about unclear and confusing text print on the primary package (5.7%). In all, 25.2% of the reporters informed their prescribing physician of the problem and 38.2% informed the pharmacist or pharmacy staff. CONCLUSIONS: Some medicine users experience considerable difficulties with the packaging of their drugs; one of the major issues is opening a blister package. Packaging of pharmaceuticals needs more attention; issues need to be addressed by the pharmaceutical manufacturers, registration authorities, and, most immediately, community pharmacists.