Pills crazies

[tloonya]

ever wondered why are they putting pills in a huge bottles and inserting 3/4 of cotton in it?

[NancysSummerSip]

I actually did wonder about that, and asked a pharmacist. She said it was to keep the pills from getting broken. So why not use smaller bottles for a smaller number of pills, I asked, and larger bottles for larger pills and/or larger quantities?

Turns out there are not very many different standard pill bottle sizes that are used. It would be costly to make a hundred different pill bottle sizes for all needs, not to mention a pharmacy having to order/stock/store them. So the cotton is used as a filler. Also, the label for your medicine has to fit the bottle. If your label has a lot of info (such as certain warnings or additional instructions), then it may not fit on the most suitable, smallest bottle.

ETA: when I first saw this thread, I misread it. I thought it said "Phil's crazies" and I was wondering if our own dear financial guru had finally flipped out and done something extravagant and spendy.

[tloonya]

Dec 22, 2015 11:21:03 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I actually did wonder about that, and asked a pharmacist. She said it was to keep the pills from getting broken. So why not use smaller bottles for a smaller number of pills, I asked, and larger bottles for larger pills and/or larger quantities?

Turns out there are not very many different standard pill bottle sizes that are used. It would be costly to make a hundred different pill bottle sizes for all needs, not to mention a pharmacy having to order/stock/store them. So the cotton is used as a filler. Also, the label for your medicine has to fit the bottle. If your label has a lot of info (such as certain warnings or additional instructions), then it may not fit on the most suitable, smallest bottle.

ETA: when I first saw this thread, I misread it. I thought it said "Phil's crazies" and I was wondering if our own dear financial guru had finally flipped out and done something extravagant and spendy.

That would be called Phil-on-pill

I think you are actually didn't get it, Nanc.
Pharmacy prescription doesn't have cotton balls in it.
Over accounter do. And it is made by you-know-who!
Manufactures that can afford anything!

So does your prescribed ones comes with a cotton balls?

[justme]

Part of it is probably also the not wanting to break pills. I also think it's safe to assume that at a certain size, what I don't actually know, it's more expensive to make a smaller size.

[Lizard Queen]

They want people to notice on the shelf.  Too small, and it gets overlooked.

[Tennesseer]

Dec 22, 2015 12:01:47 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Dec 22, 2015 11:21:03 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I actually did wonder about that, and asked a pharmacist. She said it was to keep the pills from getting broken. So why not use smaller bottles for a smaller number of pills, I asked, and larger bottles for larger pills and/or larger quantities?

Turns out there are not very many different standard pill bottle sizes that are used. It would be costly to make a hundred different pill bottle sizes for all needs, not to mention a pharmacy having to order/stock/store them. So the cotton is used as a filler. Also, the label for your medicine has to fit the bottle. If your label has a lot of info (such as certain warnings or additional instructions), then it may not fit on the most suitable, smallest bottle.

ETA: when I first saw this thread, I misread it. I thought it said "Phil's crazies" and I was wondering if our own dear financial guru had finally flipped out and done something extravagant and spendy.

That would be called Phil-on-pill

I think you are actually didn't get it, Nanc.
Pharmacy prescription doesn't have cotton balls in it.
Over accounter do. And it is made by you-know-who!
Manufactures that can afford anything!

So does your prescribed ones comes with a cotton balls?

While you hand-carry your bottled prescription and non-prescription pills from the pharmacy, the pills are shipped in boxes to the pharmacies. Those boxes of drugs can and most definitely do get tossed around during the shipping process and some of those pills do break in transit. So the cotton keeps the pills from being jostled around while in transit to the pharmacy and store shelves.

[Deleted]

I'm sure the companies have run the numbers and it's the cheapest option with the greatest protection for the pills.  AND then there's the marketing...the big bottle looks like a better deal.

[tloonya]

Dec 22, 2015 12:24:01 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Dec 22, 2015 12:01:47 GMT -5 tloonya said:

That would be called Phil-on-pill

I think you are actually didn't get it, Nanc.
Pharmacy prescription doesn't have cotton balls in it.
Over accounter do. And it is made by you-know-who!
Manufactures that can afford anything!

So does your prescribed ones comes with a cotton balls?

While you hand-carry your bottled prescription and non-prescription pills from the pharmacy, the pills are shipped in boxes to the pharmacies. Those boxes of drugs can and most definitely do get tossed around during the shipping process and some of those pills do break in transit. So the cotton keeps the pills from being jostled around while in transit to the pharmacy and store shelves.

Smaller bottle? There are pills on the bottom only and huge cotton inside!
Smaller bottle = less cotton wasted.

[swamp]

I thought the thread would be about drug addiction.

[tloonya]

Dec 22, 2015 14:01:32 GMT -5 swamp said:

I thought the thread would be about drug addiction.

So you've made a mistake?  

I am addicted to over a counter drugs...

[swamp]

Yup. I made a mistake. I make lots of them. And?

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Dec 22, 2015 12:01:47 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Dec 22, 2015 11:21:03 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I actually did wonder about that, and asked a pharmacist. She said it was to keep the pills from getting broken. So why not use smaller bottles for a smaller number of pills, I asked, and larger bottles for larger pills and/or larger quantities?

Turns out there are not very many different standard pill bottle sizes that are used. It would be costly to make a hundred different pill bottle sizes for all needs, not to mention a pharmacy having to order/stock/store them. So the cotton is used as a filler. Also, the label for your medicine has to fit the bottle. If your label has a lot of info (such as certain warnings or additional instructions), then it may not fit on the most suitable, smallest bottle.

ETA: when I first saw this thread, I misread it. I thought it said "Phil's crazies" and I was wondering if our own dear financial guru had finally flipped out and done something extravagant and spendy.

That would be called Phil-on-pill

I think you are actually didn't get it, Nanc.
Pharmacy prescription doesn't have cotton balls in it.
Over accounter do. And it is made by you-know-who!
Manufactures that can afford anything!

So does your prescribed ones comes with a cotton balls?

She gave you the answer.  Pharmacies only purchase pill bottles in so many sizes and they have to buy them in lots of so many bottles.  So it makes sense to only have a few sizes.  You can use a large bottle for small pills, but you can't for a large pill.

Secondly, more and more prescriptions are maintenance meds, which need larger bottles. 90 days of even a small pill may be too much for a smaller bottle.

[tloonya]

Dec 22, 2015 14:28:47 GMT -5 swamp said:

Yup. I made a mistake. I make lots of them. And?

I didn't think you do

[tloonya]

Dec 22, 2015 14:42:36 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Dec 22, 2015 12:01:47 GMT -5 tloonya said:

That would be called Phil-on-pill

I think you are actually didn't get it, Nanc.
Pharmacy prescription doesn't have cotton balls in it.
Over accounter do. And it is made by you-know-who!
Manufactures that can afford anything!

So does your prescribed ones comes with a cotton balls?

She gave you the answer.  Pharmacies only purchase pill bottles in so many sizes and they have to buy them in lots of so many bottles.  So it makes sense to only have a few sizes.  You can use a large bottle for small pills, but you can't for a large pill.

Secondly, more and more prescriptions are maintenance meds, which need larger bottles. 90 days of even a small pill may be too much for a smaller bottle.

Yuve got to be kidding me!
I said it is over a counter bottles!

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Dec 22, 2015 14:49:51 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Dec 22, 2015 14:42:36 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

She gave you the answer.  Pharmacies only purchase pill bottles in so many sizes and they have to buy them in lots of so many bottles.  So it makes sense to only have a few sizes.  You can use a large bottle for small pills, but you can't for a large pill.

Secondly, more and more prescriptions are maintenance meds, which need larger bottles. 90 days of even a small pill may be too much for a smaller bottle.

Yuve got to be kidding me!
I said it is over a counter bottles!

OK.....larger bottles are harder to walk out of a drug store with.  

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this out.

[billisonboard]

Things that have not been mentioned:
1)  Smaller is easier to shop-lift.
2)  Smaller is harder to handle.  I will admit that my older hands appreciate easier to hold bottles and lids.
3)  Print on labels is difficult enough to read without them being even smaller fonts size.

[tloonya]

Dec 22, 2015 15:08:50 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Things that have not been mentioned:
1)  Smaller is easier to shop-lift.
2)  Smaller is harder to handle.  I will admit that my older hands appreciate easier to hold bottles and lids.
3)  Print on labels is difficult enough to read without them being even smaller fonts size.

THE Aspirin I bought is a tiny bottle containing 35 tiny pills.
You can hide it in a palm of your hand.

[Deleted]

Dec 22, 2015 15:13:55 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Dec 22, 2015 15:08:50 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Things that have not been mentioned:
1)  Smaller is easier to shop-lift.
2)  Smaller is harder to handle.  I will admit that my older hands appreciate easier to hold bottles and lids.
3)  Print on labels is difficult enough to read without them being even smaller fonts size.

THE Aspirin I bought is a tiny bottle containing 35 tiny pills.
You can hide it in a palm of your hand.

So...are they supposed to make it even smaller, harder to read, easier to steal?

[tskeeter]

Dec 22, 2015 12:01:47 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Dec 22, 2015 11:21:03 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I actually did wonder about that, and asked a pharmacist. She said it was to keep the pills from getting broken. So why not use smaller bottles for a smaller number of pills, I asked, and larger bottles for larger pills and/or larger quantities?

Turns out there are not very many different standard pill bottle sizes that are used. It would be costly to make a hundred different pill bottle sizes for all needs, not to mention a pharmacy having to order/stock/store them. So the cotton is used as a filler. Also, the label for your medicine has to fit the bottle. If your label has a lot of info (such as certain warnings or additional instructions), then it may not fit on the most suitable, smallest bottle.

ETA: when I first saw this thread, I misread it. I thought it said "Phil's crazies" and I was wondering if our own dear financial guru had finally flipped out and done something extravagant and spendy.

That would be called Phil-on-pill

I think you are actually didn't get it, Nanc.
Pharmacy prescription doesn't have cotton balls in it.
Over accounter do. And it is made by you-know-who!
Manufactures that can afford anything!

So does your prescribed ones comes with a cotton balls?

Nancy is on the right track.  A variety of factors will affect pill bottle sizes, including bottle size standardization, the filling machine being used, the number of bottles required each year for a particular pill vs the cost of a custom mold (each mold will probably cost tens of thousands of dollars and take three to six months to design and fabricate), size required for informational labeling, the size required for easy handling by the target patient group, as well as a variety of other considerations that only a packaging engineer would think of.

[NancysSummerSip]

Dec 22, 2015 12:01:47 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Dec 22, 2015 11:21:03 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

I actually did wonder about that, and asked a pharmacist. She said it was to keep the pills from getting broken. So why not use smaller bottles for a smaller number of pills, I asked, and larger bottles for larger pills and/or larger quantities?

Turns out there are not very many different standard pill bottle sizes that are used. It would be costly to make a hundred different pill bottle sizes for all needs, not to mention a pharmacy having to order/stock/store them. So the cotton is used as a filler. Also, the label for your medicine has to fit the bottle. If your label has a lot of info (such as certain warnings or additional instructions), then it may not fit on the most suitable, smallest bottle.

ETA: when I first saw this thread, I misread it. I thought it said "Phil's crazies" and I was wondering if our own dear financial guru had finally flipped out and done something extravagant and spendy.

That would be called Phil-on-pill

I think you are actually didn't get it, Nanc.
Pharmacy prescription doesn't have cotton balls in it.
Over accounter do. And it is made by you-know-who!
Manufactures that can afford anything!

So does your prescribed ones comes with a cotton balls?

As a matter of fact, sometimes they do. Mostly the OTC ones do, though. My reasoning still applies, however. The cotton padding keeps the pills from getting broken. It also allows the manufacturer to use one bottle size for several different pill types and sizes. I understood your question just fine. You failed to ask it correctly. You did not mention prescription versus OTC in your original post. Therefore, I can interpret your post any way I wish. The fault here is not mine for answering; it's yours for asking.

[NancysSummerSip]

Dec 22, 2015 14:49:51 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Dec 22, 2015 14:42:36 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

She gave you the answer.  Pharmacies only purchase pill bottles in so many sizes and they have to buy them in lots of so many bottles.  So it makes sense to only have a few sizes.  You can use a large bottle for small pills, but you can't for a large pill.

Secondly, more and more prescriptions are maintenance meds, which need larger bottles. 90 days of even a small pill may be too much for a smaller bottle.

Yuve got to be kidding me!
I said it is over a counter bottles!

Read your first post again. No mention of over the counter or prescription in it, unless you typed it in invisible ink:

ever wondered why are they putting pills in a huge bottles and inserting 3/4 of cotton in it?

[tloonya]

Dec 22, 2015 20:26:54 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Dec 22, 2015 14:49:51 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Yuve got to be kidding me!
I said it is over a counter bottles!

Read your first post again. No mention of over the counter or prescription in it, unless you typed it in invisible ink:

ever wondered why are they putting pills in a huge bottles and inserting 3/4 of cotton in it?

Due to the fact that I had never ever got prescription drugs with cotton balls I had assumed everyone will get it. Sorry