Medication on international flight

We are traveling before a cruise. Going to Ireland and Scotland on tour. They are telling us that all prescription meds have to be in individual bottles. My husband takes over a dozen pills daily and usually sorts them at home in those pill dividers. We've traveled to Europe a couple of years ago with the pills sorted without a problem. Is this a new TSA rule?

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Who is "they"? You are exiting the US, so it has nothing to do with TSA.

We have traveled to Europe more than a dozen times. We sort our pills. Never been a problem. Not even sure pills show up on xray, but some interesting things can happen. The only ones I would even remotely worry about is serious pain killers and similar highly regulated and addictive meds, and we do leave those in their containers.

Can you get copies of the prescriptions....easier to carry! Also pack an extra week of medication "just in case". Enjoy your cruise.

I sort my meds and have never had a problem. If you carry a list of your prescriptions with dosage it will make it easier for them to look them up should you run into any difficulty.

Sauer-Kraut....your comment to pack extra meds is spot on. We completed a Regal Princess cruise in Copenhagen on Sept. 9th, flew to Gatwick and were unexpectedly delayed to Orlando for 5 days due to hurricane Irma. I did not have prescription bottles, but had pre-packed daily doses in the "weekly" containers. I ended up splitting my blood pressure medications for the last four days to make them last. Won't make that mistake again.

We travel annually from New Zealand to Europe for a stay of several months at a time, so need a fairly large supply. Our weeks' supply is in the organiser and the rest is in the original containers, together with a doctor's letter saying we need them. And ALL of them in our carry-on luggage in case our bags go astray.

We have never once been asked about them.

There is a formal requirement at the UK border concerning medication that contains controlled drugs, primarily psychotropics or narcotics - these require licensing.

Most prescription medicines will not require a license. However, carrying it in named & labelled containers with a letter and/or prescription is often mentioned as good practice because:

- it helps establish that the random pills you are carrying are NOT controlled drugs

- it could be helpful if needing medical attention or further supplies

As far as I know, it is not a legal requirement entering the UK and the likelihood of you being stopped and searched is pretty low in any case, but worth considering.

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Sauer-Kraut....your comment to pack extra meds is spot on. We completed a Regal Princess cruise in Copenhagen on Sept. 9th, flew to Gatwick and were unexpectedly delayed to Orlando for 5 days due to hurricane Irma. I did not have prescription bottles, but had pre-packed daily doses in the "weekly" containers. I ended up splitting my blood pressure medications for the last four days to make them last. Won't make that mistake again.

As a matter of curiosity, did you seek help with extra medication from a doctor or pharmacist in the UK?

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The problem that arises from sorting your meds is that it is hard for a customs officer to tell what the pills are, once they are out of their boxes and foils. I am sure that 99 times out of a hundred you would not have a problem; my wife (who takes opiates for chronic pain) always splits hers and has never been challenged. We do carry the empty boxes and a copy of the prescription just in case, but this has never been needed - yet.

As a matter of curiosity, did you seek help with extra medication from a doctor or pharmacist in the UK?

 

 

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On a cruise out of Rome last year, when packing my daily meds, I had carefully counted the number of tablets in each of the Rx bottles making sure I had enough for the time I'd be gone, plus enough extra for several additional days. However when I unpacked on the ship I discovered that I had inadvertently gathered up one bottle that had fewer than required, instead of the one with more than enough. Panic time, because it was one of my cardiac meds!

I went to the medical center on the ship that same day and was able to see the onboard physician and get a prescription that was filled on the ship, which stocks a lot of common prescription meds in the medical center. (I was told had it been for something not stocked, they would gotten the prescription filled in a pharmacy at the first port for me.) Yes, it cost me the price of a doctor's visit plus the cost of the medication, but it was worth it. And when I got home I filed a claim with my cruise line insurance and was 100% reimbursed.

Dear Cotswald Eagle,

No, I did not contact a physician in the UK, however I definitely would have seen a physician before running out of medication. It was only because I was confident of assigned seats on a flight for home that I instead split my medications for four days and did not ask the hotel for a physician referral. We have used the UK health system on a previous trip and had a very good experience in an otherwise uncomfortable illness. As I said, lesson learned!!