Medication in carry-on luggage

[twinklebug]

I just want to start a thread to clarify the new carry-on rules for medication.

From TSA website:

Exception: Baby formula and breast milk if a baby or small child is traveling; prescription medicine with a name that matches the passenger’s ticket; and insulin and essential other non-prescription medicines

This means that ALL liquid, gel or otherwise contained (think aerosol and perhaps even odd containers with indiscernable contents such as the advair diskus) prescription medication carried on MUST be labled with the Pharmacy issued prescription lablel. If, as in the case of inhalers, small viles and other plastics that lables cannot adhere to, a lable is not attached, the manufacturer's box with this label attached will work.

As to what "essential other non-prescription medicines" means (OTC inhalers & cold remedies?) I think this is left up to the screening agents & airports.

Another note - not medical, but regarding toothpaste. IF you need toothpaste in your luggage (I know a person who, because of medical issues must brush her teeth after every crumb she eats) consider packing baking soda in it's place. It doesn't taste nice, but it'll do the job. The problem you run into here is white powder in a bag doesn't look so cool when inspected

 

[NotUrsula]

There is such a thing as Rx toothpaste, and if you have that sort of medical problem, you should ask a dentist for a scrip.

You can also get a prescription for OTC meds; just ask your physician to write one. I am travelling tonight, and I called my doctors yesterday morning and got scrips written for every non-pill-form med that I need to have on a daily basis. (And there are quite a few; I have a skin condition and an ear problem that causes difficulties in pressurized aircraft.) My pharmacist has the labels ready now; and I am going to go over and get them at lunchtime.

Don't expect your doctor to give you scrips for this reason for things you don't have to use more than once per day; you won't get them unless you are travelling to the third world. But if you really cannot take the chance of being without the item for the amount of time you might have to wait in an airport, then you should ask.

 

[Mickey & Minnie Mom]

So, the prescription ban doesn't just apply to "liquid" medicine?
It is confusing in that it is listed under the liquid ban & exceptions, not as a separate item.

What about other OTCs --- Motrin, Pepto pills....
These tablets can't be put in a carry-on?

I appreciate that this is still new & they are doing their best to react. It is just difficult to plan. I know if you don't need it, put it in the checked baggage is a good rule to follow, but I just might need some Motrin or Pepto on the plane.

Also, I for one, don't consider my stick deodorant to be a liquid, but it seems they were being thrown out as well from the news coverage.

Still have 9 days to go, so hoping it becomes more clear.

 

[NotUrsula]

At this point (8/11), for US domestic flights, medications in pill form, whether OTC or Rx, are fine in carryons, and you do not need a scrip for them. (Obviously, really large quantities would trigger the same sort of law-enforcement scrutiny that they always have.)

Your stick deodorant falls under the category of "gels", which are banned in the same category that ordinary toothpaste is. Most makeup also can be considered part of this category.

 

[kaytieeldr]

What I heard/read yesterday, and the rules could easily have been changed, is that even with prescription medications you could only bring onboard enough for the flight or one travel day; everything else had to be in checked luggage.

 

[MrsG]

It sounds like they mean LIQUID medicine. I don't think it applies to pills. Anyone?

 

[bavaria]

There is such a thing as Rx toothpaste, and if you have that sort of medical problem, you should ask a dentist for a scrip.

I have prescription toothpaste. Colagate 5000 or something along those lines.

But I highly recommend Oral B 'brush ups' - I have used them all over instead of brushing teeth after a flight.

There are lots of ways of coping by finding solids and/or alternate forms of items, as I posted on another thread. I'm sure that a website will pop up shortly listing all kinds of 'alternative' products, such as anti bacterial wipes, sunscreen wipes, eye makeup remover wipes, nail polish remover cloths, etc etc etc.

 

[NotUrsula]

Well, yes, if you are speaking of things like skin creams, a giant economy size jar isn't needed for the flight and would probably be turned away. However, if the stuff comes in a 4-oz tube, you can bring on the whole tube, even if that is enough medicine for a week, because taking out just enough for one day would mean carrying it in packaging that is not original. Most meds of this type that people must use several times daily are sold in packages that are small enough to be carried on the person, so you get that size for taking on a flight. In some cases where you normally get a large size, you might have to argue with your insurance company or get your pharmacist to put a duplicate scrip label on a sample tube.

With things like asthma inhalers, etc., the size of the applicator is the size of the applicator; it's not like you can open the thing.

 

[twinklebug]

It sounds like they mean LIQUID medicine. I don't think it applies to pills. Anyone?

You guys are correct, at this point in time solids (including powders) are permitted without lableling. I wouldn't however count on this continuing & it might be safe just to have if they change the rules while off on a trip.

I wonder how many folk returning from a trip they took this past week are encountering security insisting they have to toss the eardrops etc that they NEEDin the air because they're not labled. I certainly hope no one has been forced to throw out a rescue inhaler.

 

[msr709]

Does anyone know what you do if you have the mail order meds? I'm a diabetic and my meds come in bottles that carry 3 months worth of pills and I really wouldn't want to carry around with that. I take 6 scripts a day, I would hate to carry those large containers. They don't come from my local pharmacy they are from a mail-order drug company. Anyone in my same situation that has come up with a solution? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I'm going on DCL Western Caribbean and I need at least 10-days worth of pills.

 

[NotUrsula]

Most folks who have mail-order coverage are also able to get meds from local stores, but it costs more. Call your insurance company and ask if it is possible to authorize a local pharmacy to package small travel packs for you. If they say yes, then the pharmacy will have to call them again to confirm that it is OK.

 

[donmil723]

I use a mail order pharmacy too. I thought about calling them and asking if they can send me an empty smaller bottle with a prescription label that I can use when travelling. They probably don't have them now but if this becomes a permanent reality and enough people ask, hopefully, they will provide it.

Donna

 

[twinklebug]

Does anyone know what you do if you have the mail order meds? I'm a diabetic and my meds come in bottles that carry 3 months worth of pills and I really wouldn't want to carry around with that. I take 6 scripts a day, I would hate to carry those large containers. They don't come from my local pharmacy they are from a mail-order drug company. Anyone in my same situation that has come up with a solution? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I'm going on DCL Western Caribbean and I need at least 10-days worth of pills.

Call the mail order company and ask them to ship you small bottles & lables for the items they dosed out to you. At my pharmacy we had this occur a few times... no issues with it as long as their prescription they were putting into these bottles were the ones we gave to them, but in smaller portions.

ALSO, New thought!!! (where's my lightbulb smiley?)
For us inhaler folk, you can have the pharmacy label a tube container the inhaler will fit into. No scrunched up box floating around your carry on that will get ratty after awhile

 

[disneyagain]

What about insulin needles? My DH is a diabetic and he takes 2 types of medication with one of those pen things (you know what I mean, I can't come up with the name of it right now) So 2 needle sizes. We get our meds through a mail-in service and we get good size boxes with the needles in them. Do we need to take both big boxes with the prescription label on them? Or can we just put the needles in the "pen" case?

Am I safer to haul the big boxes, so that there is no questions. We have the prescription labels on the meds.

We leave tomorrow!

 

[CleveRocks]

Does anyone know what you do if you have the mail order meds? I'm a diabetic and my meds come in bottles that carry 3 months worth of pills and I really wouldn't want to carry around with that.

If the suggestions that others made don't work, then at least if you have to carry around those larger pill bottles, empty them out and leave all the pills at home that you WON'T need during your trip.

In other words, if the bottle holds 300 pills and you will need 30 for your trip, leave the other 270 in a safe and secxure place at home, then travel with the nearly empty, original (and labeled) prescription bottle. Sure, it will take up that extra space, but at least you won't be risking loosing or ruining an entire huge batch of medication.

 

[CleveRocks]

What about insulin needles? My DH is a diabetic and he takes 2 types of medication with one of those pen things (you know what I mean, I can't come up with the name of it right now) So 2 needle sizes. We get our meds through a mail-in service and we get good size boxes with the needles in them. Do we need to take both big boxes with the prescription label on them? Or can we just put the needles in the "pen" case?

Am I safer to haul the big boxes, so that there is no questions. We have the prescription labels on the meds.

We leave tomorrow!

Acording to the TSA website, "dry" needles (my term, not theirs) seem to be fine in carry-ons. As long as the syringes are not pre-loaded (like I suspect a pen might be), then there will be no problem. But if the "pens" you are talking about are pre-loaded with liquid medication, then it seems you'll need to take the large box with the original Rx label on it.

But like someone else said -- any chance of paying out-of-pocket for a smaller quantity (in a smaller container) at your local pharmacy?

 

[disneyagain]

The pens are pre-loaded and we have the prescription label with that. The needles pop onto the end when he takes the meds. So the needles are stand alone.

We'll be gone for 8 days, he'll need 8 of each kind of needle for the week (we'll probably take 10-15 just in case any are bad). The box holds either 50 or 100.

 

[SueM in MN]

The pens are pre-loaded and we have the prescription label with that. The needles pop onto the end when he takes the meds. So the needles are stand alone.

We'll be gone for 8 days, he'll need 8 of each kind of needle for the week (we'll probably take 10-15 just in case any are bad). The box holds either 50 or 100.

The TSA website says you can take needles and syringes (I know you just need needles for the insulin pen) if you have labeled medication that requires a needle to go along with the needles.

 

[msr709]

I just called my mail-in serviceand the rep (which btw has always been very helpful and accomodating) told me they have not yet heard what they are going to do about this situation but that they will have to come up with something because they are getting many calls regarding this. I told her my cruise is in October and she said to call in about 2 weeks to see if they had come up with a solution. I myself have to take 7 prescriptions a day, it would be very expensive for me to get yet another prescription for each one of my meds, I just paid for a supply of 3 months! I can't really afford to dish out any more money than I have to. I'm going to hold fast until I hear from my mail-in service and see what they come up with. HTH

 

[ducklite]

I flew this weekend. I had the following medications with me:

(2) Inhalers
Advair Diskus
Singulair Tabs
Med Pack (steroids in tab form)
Epi-Pen
And DS's three meds in pill form

They never even looked at any of them. The only one that *might* be considered liquid is the inhalers, and they never blinked at them, let alone asked to see script labels for them. In fact I didn't even have script labels for the inhalers, the boxes were long gone and I didn't have time to get a label from the pharmacy.

Anne