| The Poison Prevention Packaging Act was passed to prevent unintentional child poisonings. The Act requires special packaging to protect children from injury or illness as a result of handling, using, or ingesting certain drugs and household substances. The Act requires child-resistant packaging for such products. A child-resistant package is one that is significantly difficult for children under the age of five to open.
Packaging Regulations
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, a federal regulatory agency, is charged with enforcing the Act. The Commission has authority to adopt rules requiring child-resistant packaging for various drugs and toxic household products. To date, the Commission has issued rules requiring child-resistant packaging for such products as paint solvents, turpentine, prescription drugs, aspirin, furniture polish, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, drain cleaners, automobile antifreeze and mouthwash.
Recall of Products
The Commission also has authority to recall products that are not in child-resistant packaging. In the past, vitamins containing iron have been voluntarily recalled by the manufacturer when they were not packaged in child-resistant packaging as required by the Act. Iron-containing supplements can cause serious injury or death if ingested by children.
Prescription Medication
The Act and its accompanying regulations require pharmacists to dispense prescription medication in child-resistant packaging. However, there is an exception permitting a pharmacist to dispense medication in packaging that is not child-resistant if the patient requests it, if the doctor prescribes it, or if the patient is elderly or disabled.
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