Medco, Express Scripts containers, kind not given

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. Emergency room

   Made Sep 19, 2011 · , sent to the company Sep 27, 2011 · , published by CPSC Oct 19, 2011

   The product, in the report: Medication container, personal pill container. Company sells medications through the mail and works closely with insurance agencies. Its a design defect that affects all of their containers. Pill container is supposed to be child proof, but was opened by 2 yr old child. The design is different than other pill containers form regular pharmacies. It is noticably easier to open. I have since transferred my pills another container that is harder to open.

   This incident regards a medication container design defect that sent my two year old daughter to the emergency room. In November 2010, I discovered my daughter, who was two-years old at the time, with my pill bottle. She had opened my pill bottle and had spilled them all over the floor. She also had a pill in her mouth. I removed the pill from her mouth and called poison control. They asked the name of the medication, and I told them 112mcg of lovothyroxine. They asked if she swallowed any, and I said I did not know. They told me to bring her to the emergency room. I rushed her to the hospital and they examined her and gave her a charcoal solution to drink. I brought the pills to show the doctor. We were there for about 3-4 hours and then returned home. The pill container was from [redacted], a drugs-through-the-mail program via my insurance company. I had Anthem BCBS health insurance at the time. I did not take any action regarding this incident, but I have been transferring my pills to another, more secure bottle.

   I understand that elderly customers have a hard time opening child-proof pill bottles, so they make them easier to open. But to make them so easy to open that a two-year old girl can do it? And, my daughter is a relatively small girl. It is not only one bottle, but all their bottles are desiged the same - all have a design defect.

   I changed jobs since then and now have health insurance through GEHA. They use Medco for drugs-through-the-mail program. Unfortunately, they have the same pill bottles as [redacted]! Now, I have to continue to transfer my pills because the pill bottles are not child-proof. I was finally fed up with transferring my pills, because it is not the proper thing to do. I do not want to have my pills in a different container with the wrong drug description and dates, etc... I called Medco about three weeks ago to explain what happened and filed a complaint with customer service about the pill bottles. The customer service representative said he was sorry about that, that they would send a postage paid box to me so that I can send them the faulty pill bottle. He also asked that I include a note about the incident in the box. During the phone call, I had the empty pill bottle nearby. My daughter picked it up while I was talking to them on the phone. She opened the bottle again! I told them that, and the customer service representative was amazed. He apologized again and assured me they would take care of it. It has been several months and they have not sent a box. I called today to see if they are taking any action to remedy the issue. They stated that the Medco phamacy said the product test showed no problems. That is all they said. They obviously do not care to reexamine the pil container.

   The emergency room visit cost me plenty. I am a veteran now serving as a civilian in the government. My wife, two children and I are a young family making ends meet, and I had to pay the hospital $273 toward my deductible on 16 November 2011. I would like to hear what you have to say. I also read on the news that Express Scripts just bought Medco for $29 billion. These greedy companies are pocketing profits and do not care to protect children! I am furious. Would you please look into this? What other action can I take?

   Best regards, [REDACTED]

   Where

   Springfield, Virginia: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 2, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   My Child

   As this report names them

   Brand Medco, Express Scripts, made or sold by MEDCO HEALTH SOLUTIONS INC

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, Emergency Department Treatment Received

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources