Finding the right packaging for medication can be difficult. Pharmaceutical packaging companies have many goals in mind that the packaging must be able to fulfill. The product must be protected from crushing, leaks, and contamination. The packaging should be tamper evident, and difficult for children to open, while providing no obstacles for senior citizens. While that may seem like a tall order, the medical packaging companies were able to rise to the challenge and create innovative pharmaceutical packaging.

One of the biggest challenges that pharmaceutical and medical packaging companies faced was creating innovative packaging for liquid medication. While there were many different bottle packaging designs on the market, it was difficult to administer the liquid medication. Spills were common, and dosage was difficult to measure correctly. Thus, single-dose pouches were born. With a simple tear-away strip, the pouches were easy enough for patients with arthritis and carpal tunnel to open, but would pose a challenge to small children. The size made dosing easier, as the doses were pre-measured and packaged separately.


While single-serve pouches solved much of the problem for liquid medication, pills, tablets, and capsules remained in need. Plastic blister packaging is the most popular solution for dry medication packaging. Blister packs allow pills to be isolated in little capsules, making them easier to see and more difficult to contaminate. The cardboard and foil backings can be printed with days of the week, to make keeping track of dosing easier. The plastic capsules can be pressed to push the medication through the foil, adding blister packaging to the ranks of easy to open for adults, not so for children.

Whether the medication is liquid or solid, it is important to keep it tamper-free, uncontaminated, and safe. As improvements in packaging continue to be made, consumers can look forward to a future of safe medications in easy-to-open packages.