itazuraman

I'm sure someone else has had experience with this... if I tried to bring a large bottle of all-in-one contact lens solution would they accept it as a medical necessity? I don't think I qualify as "disabled" for being a little nearsighted but I need to wash my contacts with SOMETHING. The brand I like doesn't come in anything smaller than 3oz, and I'd probably need more than that for the length of my trip anyway. Do you think it would make it through, or would it just take too long to be worth it? Obviously I could check it or attempt to find something comparable at my destination, or just send a bottle in the mail in advance... the ideal thing would be to have it in the cabin but what do you think the security reaction would be?

ricktoronto

Yes. It is. Just not in the bag (where it may not fit anyway) but declared.

TSO1973

If you need to carry some on with you, get the small bottle. Those go through without a problem. Check the larger bottle if you are going to take one of those.

tev9999

Just remove it from your carry on and put it in a bin with the rest of your stuff. Medically necessary does not equal disabled. It is medically necessary and TSA should not have any problem with it.

gj83

The regulations just say "saline solution" and since I also use an all-in-one solution I decided not to bother determining what TSA is going to allow any given day.

PhlyingRPh

1) Get your physician to write the following prescription:
Ophthalmic Saline Solution 0.9% (Opti-Free**), 8 Fl. Oz***
Use as directed for contact lens care.
Refill PRN

2) Visit your phriendly pharmacist and ask that the dispensed product be labeled using the pharmacy's computerized dispensing system.

3) Keep a copy of the prescription

4) Leave the dispensed prescription product in your carry on as you go through the checkpoint

5) If a TSO discovers it (approx. 80% chance, based on my metrics), tell him or her it is a medically necessary item dispensed pursuant to a prescription

6) About half the time, the TSO will let it go. However, the remainder of the time, you will be asked what your medical condition is, to which you should reply "It's part of my private medical history, and as a government agent you should be aware of HIPAA privacy laws allowing me to keep that information private.

7) If the TSO insists that he or she needs to know, tell them you need their name so that you can report them to the TSA, the State Board of Medical Examiners and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.



** or brand of choice *** or applicable size (larger the better)

STBCypriot

I wouldn't recommend trying to take a large bottle of Clear Care in your carry-on. This is the brand that is hydrogen peroxide and uses a catalyst to neutralize the hydrogen peroxide to a safe solution for your eyes. The odds are good that TSA will confiscate this type of solution, even though it is for contact lenses. Any other brand "should" be fine; however, with TSA you never know.

BubbaLoop

Now seriously, water is a bigger medical necessity to all passengers than contact solution (and I sympathize as a contact wearer). The logic of the "medical exemption" is slippery, at least.

As for the suggestions made by PhlyingRPh, I would just like to remind people here that those personalized pharmacy labels are not used in the rest of the world. I have lived in 3 countries in South America over the years, and none of them label prescription medications with the name of the patient. They all sell medications in their original, factory-produced, package.

enigmamatt

I always carry a 4oz bottle of solution with me (whichever one is in the green and white bottle). I toss it in the bin with my ziploc baggie (but not in the baggie) and consider that my "declaration." Maybe 10% of the time the X-Ray operator will pull the bin out, look at the bottle, toss it back in and send it on out. I have not been questioned on it in a couple of years now.

Matt

PhlyingRPh

You are correct in the case of countries where legend drugs are available without a prescription, or where prescription laws are not enforced. However, in the US, Canada, and EU, additional labeling requirements are common, and the labeling requirements include the need for prescribing physician name, pharmacy name, address and phone number, and unique prescription number (in addition to the name of the patient). It is these elements that give a prescription medication package legitimacy. Carrying the prescription with you, as I advised above, provides an additional layer of assurance to the security agents wherever one happens to be, but to be honest I think it's only the US where one can successfully pass through an airport security checkpoint with an 8, 12 or 16 ounce bottle of lens solution dispensed pursuant to a prescription without too much hassle.

To the subject of medical necessity, there are many individuals who are unable to use commercially available contact lens solution, and either require additional buffering agents to be added to a commercially available solution, which would be done by a compounding pharmacy, or they require a solution compounded from scratch to be made specifically for them by a pharmacist. However, it would of course be possible for the pharmacist to prepare a solution in a bottle that is compliant with TSA and international liquid size requirements.

ND Sol

Would you not permit the larger bottle through your checkpoint?

tev9999

Why go to all the hassle and expense of getting a prescription when it is specifically allowed by TSA? Worst case they confiscate it (unlikely) and you are out a $5 bottle of saline. Or if really worried about it, head to Walmart or Target and pick up a few 99 cent 2 ounce bottles of Renu (cheapest I have found). If it is not your brand, dump it down the drain and refill the bottle with your preferred solution, and into your baggie they go.

BubbaLoop

No, I am not talking about over the counter sales (legal or not). I am talking about prescription sales. Around here, you get your prescription from the doctor, and take it to the pharmacy. The pharmacist reads it, releases the purchase of the medication, and depending on the type of prescription, keeps a copy of it or stamps it as sold. The medication is sold in its original packaging with manufacturer information. This is not the informal system - it is the normal legal system. In fact, I find it very strange and uncomfortable to get pills outside their original packaging in the US.

The TSA is notorious for not recognizing the needs and differences in foreign guests. I would not like to push them in the direction of requiring something foreigners have no means of providing.

SDF_Traveler

While on the subject of liquids and gels..

I carry a bottle of RX toothpaste on me with a high floride concentration.

I tend not to carry it when going abroad, unless it is a longer trip where I have a checked bag, but otherwise I carry it for most US domestic travel.

It has not been confiscated yet - I keep it in a plastic baggie separate from my "kippie bag", mainly to avoid problems if it were to leak; I put it in a bin right next to my "kippie bag" and most TSAers allow it to pass, but about 10% of the time I have to escalate and the supervisor OK's it.

I've found trying to declare it pre X-Ray typically creates problems -- instead I just put it through next to my kippie bag and then declare it as an RX post x-ray if a TSO gets excited or pees in their pants when they see "I have too many liquids".

PhlyingRPh

Yes, I understood what you meant, and my point was that even legend drugs prepackaged in say, a thirty day supply are required to have a pharmacy label on them in the US, Canada and EU countries. Certainly, the prescriptions I've had filled in the UK and other european countries have often been dispensed in manufacturer blisterpaks but have had a pharmacy label bearing the actual prescription number, physician name, etc.

BTW, I agree with your concerns about repackaging medications into prescription vials, but sometimes it is a good thing.