Types of Child-Resistant, Senior-Friendly Drug Closure Systems - Part 2

In addition to Alcan Packaging’s injection-molded, single-piece closure, they have also developed a Slide-and-Tear closure. It is a cross between a standard unit-dose blister card with paperboard and a combination of various structural systems. This closure is practically un-tearable but can be opened in three easy steps. The package received the highest level of child resistance and a near-perfect score in the senior-friendly portion of the tests.

A similar design, the Slide Pack, was developed by Packaging Coordinators, Inc. It looks like a regular blister on a folded card, but the pills can’t be pushed out until the consumer moves a sliding mechanism within the package. Independent testing indicated that sliding is an activity that children can’t do but seniors can.

Dosepak designed a closure that features an inner blister sealed to an outer (tear resistant) paperboard carton that provides child resistance through a locking mechanism. Once the locking mechanism is released and the package is opened, the individual blisters are not difficult for seniors to open. Additional benefits to this packaging are the ample room the carton provides for compliance-related information, and the stay-attached paper-to-blister feature, which keeps the labeling in tact with the product.

The Envelope Package, designed by Algroup Wheaton Pharma, requires unfolding the package and pulling out a carton piece from the middle of it before the tablet can be pushed through. The closure also has the benefit of providing additional billboard for marketing and compliance purposes.

Other designs have been proposed, such as clean-cut blisters with units that can’t be peeled until separated from the blister. To avoid breaking and tearing of all the blisters upon one opening attempt, each cavity’s lidding is independent. Due to the concern of children using their teeth to open blister packages, No-Tear films require scissors for opening.

Another proposal is the Bitpak paper. It contains denatonium benzoate, a bitter substance that would be used as an overcoat to the blister package. The designers’ intent is that the taste would present an unpleasant experience and discourage the child from trying to bite another package.

The Break Tab has also been proposed. This requires the consumer to break the perforation in the blister, and then peel it open. It has been proposed for fragile tablets and other products where the peel-push action won’t work.

Yet another proposal has been the Peel-Peel-Push blister. The consumer must peel two layers before pushing the product through the foil.

The focus of these new concepts is on cognitive ability since many seniors do not have the dexterity or strength to open most conventional packages. However, the most frequent concern with blister packaging is heavier thickness material for bite resistance.

Many package designers work with drug companies to collaborate on new designs. However, the drug companies are reluctant to adopt the new designs in fear that replacing familiar closures with new ones will scare consumers away. Also, the drug companies aren’t willing to pay for these more expensive designs.

Many child-resistant, senior-friendly package closures are available to drug companies, and many more are designed each day. The challenge closure designers face is to design closures that meet the CPSC’s protocol requirements, is cost efficient and aesthetically pleasing, and is accepted by consumers.

However, even when closure designers are able to overcome these challenges, children may still be at risk of poisoning. As one closure designer pointed out, if the consumer doesn’t replace or close the closure, all the designs in the world won’t keep children safe. He stated that the most troublesome challenge is making closures so easy to use that the consumer won’t even think about leaving the cap off.