A Sarnia-based pharmaceutical chain is the first in Canada to offer to lock prescription bottles, a product designed to keep dangerous prescription drugs out of the hands of teens, toddlers and kids of all ages.
Hogan Pharmacy introduced Safe RX locking prescription vials (LPVs) across their stores on April 25 to help address the opioid epidemic, and pediatric poisoning associated with medication.
Co-owner and pharmacist Darryl Moore says the bottles work as a preventative measure to reduce accidental access to medication and intentional pilfering. He says the latter is a leading source for teen prescription drug abuse and opioid addiction.
"The most common thing we see in our industry is young people taking one, two, possibly three pills out of somebody's medication, and that has the ability to lead to drug abuse," says Moore. "With these bottles, they're literally going to have to smash or steal the prescription to get into what they want."
LPVs retail at around $3 to $4 and Hogan Pharmacy is selling them at-cost, so they won't be profiting from the product.
Moore says the bottles work as another tool to help prevent young people from doing opioids at an age when they're most susceptible to addiction.
"Kids when they're 14, 15, 16 and 17 make different decisions when they're 21, 22, 23," he says. "If we're using these vials at a time in their life when they're making some of the decisions that they're being peer-pressured into, this helps decrease the likelihood of them getting into it and becoming addicted."
Moore says unlike existing medicine bottles, LPVs have a 100% child safety certification success rate for children under the age of five.
"Because you have a 4-digit code which has up to 10,000 combinations, it makes it very difficult for a young child to securely open up the medication that's in there."
They're now available across the eight Hogan locations, five of which are located in Sarnia-Lambton.
The product is already available in parts of the United States and Moore is hoping other chains across Canada follow their lead.