eli5: Why do some pills come loose in a bottle like Tylenol, while others are in separate pouches?

Question

Why do some pills, like Tylenol, come in a loose form inside a bottle, while others are individually packaged in separate pouches?

Is this because some pills are more abused/misused? Does size play a factor? Small Pill = Different packaging.

In: 147

Answer 1

Some pills need to be protected from agitation through shipping. They get damaged when they rub up against each other, some pills react to oxygen or other gasses in the atmosphere so the blister pact protects against both of these.

In the UK, medications containing acetaminophen, are required to be in blister packs as a suicide prevention mechanism because often times, suicide is a “spur of the moment” action and Tylenol was a common way of committing suicide. Putting it in a blister pack added one more barrier to prevent people from doing this.

https://nclnet.org/will_repackaging_medicine_prevent_suicides/