Flying with meds

[Minnesota]

Hey all,

There have been a number of questions about flying with medications given what happened th the UK this morning. To help with some of the questions here is what we recieved from the State of Minnesota at the pharmacy where I work this morning.

1: All medications must be in bottles labeled by the pharmacy dispensing it. This includes pills, capsules, liquids, gels, creams, ointments etc. If you only want to bring a small bottle along instead of the full size one you can go get a smaller officially labled bottle or oinmtent jar from the pharmacy for practically any med no matter the delivery form.

2:For flying with OTC (over the Counter) drugs such as cold medication in any form can recieve an official labele as well so it won't be confiscated and you don't have to sumggle it through. Several states have Pharmacist Prescribing laws which means your pharmacist MAY be able to prescribe this for you, officially lable it and sell it to you for the same price as the shelf - no Doctor needed. In other states where pharmacists can not do this you could call your MD explain the situation and they can call in a prescription for the OTC med. Most of the time it will NOT run through insurances but the pharmacy can then still officially lable it and sell it to you for the shelf price.

3: Insulin is still allowed on board planes as long as it is oficially labled

Hope this helps some people.
Minnesota
Licensed Pharmacy Tech

 

[Windy City Heather]

Thanks. The girl I sit next to and I were just talking about this. She is flying tomorrow morning and usually puts all her pills (4 different kinds) in one pharmacy labled container. Do you think that is going to be a problem?

 

[Minnesota]

Thanks. The girl I sit next to and I were just talking about this. She is flying tomorrow morning and usually puts all her pills (4 different kinds) in one pharmacy labled container. Do you think that is going to be a problem?

Unless they all look identical, which they probably aren't, I would reccomend seperate smaller contianers. If the security personal look inside the bottle and see 3 different meds they may make an issue out of it. Better to have 3 smaller containers than no meds at all and have to try and get them refilled at your destination
Minnesota

 

[i_hrt_mickey]

Thanks for all the great info... I have a quick question... how about a glucose meter and lancets??? Just been diagnosis with diabetes I am not sure if this will be allowed on the plane. At this time I am not on insulin so, that should not be a problem.

Thanks again

 

[newholidayx2]

I split my vitamins/pills into those weekly containers. Guess I'll put them in my check in!

 

[disnut8]

Remember that all this stuff can be put into checked baggage, just not into carryons. So if you don't need something for the day, put it in the checked baggage. My husband is on a daily prescribed pill for gout. He can live without it but it is a prescription and necessary. We'll carry that on. Our vitamins and aspirin for my neck problems we will check. We can always get more of those if our bags are delayed. That's what the real problem will be. Can you live without it for a day?

 

[Bev J]

I would never consider packing any medications I need in my checked luggage. Luggage gets lost and now with alot more luggage being checked the chances of your luggage being lost or delayed is even greater.
You are not going to have any problem carrying on any perscribed medication
I take 3 different meds a day, as does my husband,plus going to WDW without my motrin would make the trip rather painfull.

You can replace clothing, sunscreen, makeup, haircare items fairly easily, although costly. But medication is another thing all together. My HMO won't even let me refill a prescription unless it is time for the refill- unless I want to pay full retail price for it-they don't care if it gets lost, stolen or accidently dumped down the drain. I will be cutting back on what goes in the carry on, but my medications will travel in the cabin with me..

Bev

 

[winterman]

I split my vitamins/pills into those weekly containers. Guess I'll put them in my check in!

The changes announced today concerned liquids and gels, not pills. You should not put your medication in your checked bags.

 

[mmbrad02]

Thanks for all the great info... I have a quick question... how about a glucose meter and lancets??? Just been diagnosis with diabetes I am not sure if this will be allowed on the plane. At this time I am not on insulin so, that should not be a problem.

Thanks again

My DH and I are both Type 1 Diabetics and flew to MCO in July While I'm not sure of the specific rules now concerning these items, we flew without a problem. HOWEVER, when flying, we ALWAYS get a dated letter, signed by our physician, stating our name, birthdate, and our condition and that it is necessary for us to have these (lists medicines) items with us at all times. The list includes our glucose meter, lancets, test strips, syringes, insulin pump supplies, etc.

So, you might consider getting a note from your physician to keep with you since glucose monitors and supplies are not labeled with a prescription. Again, I'm not sure that's the proper procedure with today's news, but just a thought. Also, we typically each have our meters with us, and pack a spare in our checked luggage (we have about a dozen it seems) incase ours malfunction or anything. I'm not sure if that's an option for you, but just what we do.

 

[JoiseyMom]

My DD10 has 4 perscription pills, and then there are her 2 liquid allergy meds. I saved older (still valid dates) bottles so I could pack her pills in. DS4 has his inhalers, I am not sure if I have the boxes with his name on them though. I need to check. All my kids meds will be carried by me in my carryon. I will not trust them in my check luggage, besides I might needs DS inhaler on the plane!

 

[Minnesota]

Hi again!
For follow up questions, For a few things like some inhailers, glucose meters, lancets etc. that the pharmacy staff can't stick lables to you can still ask for a reference copy of the original doctors prescription. According to the State of Minnesota inhalers are concidered liquids as most have a liquid type propellant except for a few of the newer ones like Adviar and Spiriva. Some Inhailers are also explosive when heated, even with something as simple as a lighter. The Minneapolis Airport has been checking even pills and capsules, not just liquids so it's better to be safe than sorry. As a previous poster pointed out it can be VERY hard to refill your prescriptions early and/or out of state so why bother with the hasle. If you bring everything in officially labled containers of official documentation, you know there won't be a problem and getting said documentation is easy one maybe two phone calls.

 

[idofabric]

My DH is due to fly home from Calif. tomorrow. He had a heart attack a few years ago and MUST have his spray Nitro with him. However, the US Navy pharamcy here only puts the lable on the boxes... NOT the spray bottle. He does not have the box with him. I told him to go to a Doc in a Box and have them reissue him a new spray bottle... but he doesn't think he will need to.
It has been 5+ years since the heart attack, and he hasn't needed the Nitro once, but between this and the fact that our DD, 22yo, left LAX at 6am, and still hasn't got on the finally flight in Atlanta Georgia, 17 hours latter, doesn't give me the best feeling! Delta really screwed this up...hope DH has better luck tomorrow! I will OWN the entire world if they take his meds away and he needs it!!! Esp. since it was a Goverment Agency that dispenced it to him, and they wouldn't put the sticker on the spray bottle!!!!

 

[PrincessBrideJo]

Okay, I think some are overreacting The new thing is for liquids ONLY. Stop worrying about any pill forms of medications. The only problems are with liquids!!!!! You can take your pills without any medical form/paper/signature in blood!

 

[Leota]

I take an injection drug twice a day. It is absolutely necessary that I take it to stay alive. It is very expensive and most pharmacies do not stock it. I have to mix the injection fluid myself from a powder vial and a sterile water vile. The boxes the vials come in are marked, as are the vials, but the actual perscription is only on the Large (1' x 2') monthly injection kit box. I do have a doctor's authoriztion card that came with the kit when I first started taking it.
Will the card and the smaller boxes of vials be sufficient or do I need to have the pharmacy label the small boxes of vials since I will not be carrying the month sized supply kit?

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks. The girl I sit next to and I were just talking about this. She is flying tomorrow morning and usually puts all her pills (4 different kinds) in one pharmacy labled container. Do you think that is going to be a problem?

For pills, things are still the same. I take 3 medications in pill form. Ordinarily I throw them, along with ibuprofin and vitamins all in one container (they're all different colors so I don't get them confused). DH flew yesterday and his experience was that the screeners weren't concerned with things in pill form. He does the same as me (puts all pills in the same, unmarked container) and he was fine.

 

[Debbie]

So, DH puts his diabetic/blood pressure pills in the daily containers-you know space for morning, noon, evening, night pills-and he should be okay? If I don't have to take the pill bottles, that would be a help.

 

[PiperPizzaz]

Yeah, don't worry about pills. The only part I am confused on is what is the medication is a child's it won't have YOUR name on it, will it? Children are more likely to have liquid medication too. (like an antibiotic, etc.) If you have a child under 2 and they don't have a ticket it maybe a good idea to bring some kind of ID for them. Like a copy of their birth certificate.