Four Important Uses for a Tamper Evident Label
When people take a medication out of a pharmacy pill container, they depend on the medicine not to be tampered with or altered in a way that impacts its effectiveness. Yet, that is exactly what can happen when a medication’s chain of custody is not secure. Although trusting everyone who handles medication would be ideal, the crucial nature of many medicines demand that they have tamper evident labels applied that make it obvious when the bottle seal is broken.
Using a Tamper Evident Label
Most standard pharmacy medications that are dispensed straight from the pharmacy counter don’t need a tamper evident label. The physician who prescribed the medication is known, the pharmacist who processed the medication is known, and the pharmacist apprises the patient of any special information about the medicine. There are, however, some unique situations when using a tamper proof label is the option of choice. Below are four examples of these situations.
- Transferring Between Pharmacies
It isn’t uncommon for one pharmacy franchise to be out of a medication and contact another franchise in the same company to acquire the drug. Because the drug is physically transferred from one pharmacy to another, conscientious pharmacists often apply a tamper evident label that is destroyed once it is removed. In applying the label, the pharmacist gives the patient the utmost assurance that the medicine has only been handled by pharmacists and no one else.
- Contents of Bottle are Evidence
In some cases, pharmacy-style pill bottles are not used to store medication but evidence. In some situations, the evidence is routine and is sent to the patient’s doctor’s office. In other cases, the evidence may be legally sensitive and transferred to a crime lab. In either case, maintaining the integrity of the sample is a priority, so that tests on the substance reveal correct results. Applying a tamper evident label ensures that no human action has tainted the sample.
- Medication is a Scheduled Drug
According to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), many scheduled drugs have abuse potential (Xanax and Oxycodone, for example) and are thus carefully monitored by physicians and pharmacists. To acquire more pills, some abusers of scheduled drugs are known to say that their pills were miscounted low by pharmacists. However, this is unlikely because the pills are counted carefully more than once. Applying a tamper evident label to the bottle provides further assurance of correct pill count, as it shows that no one but the pharmacist accessed the drug.
- Medication is a Patient Sample
In the age of big pharmaceutical companies, most patient sample medications come in blister packs and other types of novel packaging the drug maker provides. So, there is no need for a tamper evident label. However, in the case of compounded medications, which pharmacies custom create to meet special medical needs, a tamper evident label is often applied to show that the drug was not processed in any way after it was compounded; it is as pure as it can be.
Need Tamper Evident Container Labels?
Tamper evident labels are useful for any organization that must preserve the integrity of what is inside the pill bottle or sample container. Public pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, research labs, and crime labs are just some of the organizations that need our tamper evident labels. These labels are made of the highest quality material for their purpose, contain information fields that users find helpful, and can be customized to meet practically any need the customer has.
For assistance choosing the tamper evident label you need to protect medicine, medical samples or other materials, call Shamrock Labels today at (800) 323-0249. If you already know what you need, simply shop here today!