Claravis (the generic for Accutane) employs the most wasteful packaging I have ever seen for any drug. The 20mg capsules come in packs of ten pills. Each capsule is tightly sealed in a difficult-to-open blister. The ten blisters are on the right side of a heavy, gate-folded cardboard thing, which is covered with writing and ALSO has a pocket for the paper that carries all the drug fine print. The entire card/blister/pocket package is 7×14″ when opened. It uses a considerable amount of paper.

All over the huge folded blister-pack card are repetetive messages. Literally over and over, things like “Claravis causes serious birth defects.” “Do not get pregnant.” “You must not take Claravis if you are pregnant.” Red circle and slash through a drawing of a heavily pregnant woman. Each and every blister over each capsule carries this image! Gee. I wonder if now is a good time to get pregnant?

So this massive waste of paper and materials for ten pills. THEN there are three folders to a paper box. With all the same warnings. So we have a fairly hefty box about the size of a big package of frozen spinach, and it only holds 30 capsules–ten days supply.

My whole month’s supply was crammed into a big paper bag. It could have fit nice and neat into a good-sized orange prescription pill bottle, but no, the drug company has to cover its ass once some fool actually manages to get knocked up while taking Accutane, THEN doesn’t have an abortion like a smart person, and delivers a pinhead with no ears and no kidneys into the world. All these warnings pretty much guarantee they won’t be sued. And it’s a good thing I recycle paper.

I am stuffed with good sushi. Good night.