OCR Text |
Show Packing Criticism Incorrect A University of Utah Medical Center expert on poisonings, Dr. Anthony R. Temple, has criticized distortions distor-tions in the interpretation of a law requiring safety packaging packag-ing for certain drugs and household chemicals. DR. TEMPLE is director of the U's Intermountain Regional Poison Control Center. He cited a recent article ar-ticle in Reader's Digest reporting a death allegedly caused by safety packaging that prevented access to nitroglycerin, ni-troglycerin, a medication used in heart attack treatment. treat-ment. Dr. Temple called the article ar-ticle "malicious and misleading," mislead-ing," and said federal law prohibits safety packaging of nitroglycerin. Several other drugs are also exempted from the safety packaging requirement. HE SAID another misunderstanding misun-derstanding about the law concerns the availability of non-safety packaging in over-the-counter medications. Such packages are available upon request. Dr. Temple expressed concern con-cern over whether all hazardous hazar-dous drug and household chemical substances are distributed dis-tributed in safety packages. "CURRENTLY, many hazardous substances are sold in regular packaging, and the poison control center continues to see 900 such poisonings each month involving in-volving small children. This number will be significantly reduced when safety packaging packag-ing is required for many of these hazardous substances." Dr. Temple encouraged the use of safety packaging in ' homes where small children might be present. |