Does anyone know what law(s) apply to having "identified" medications on your person?
What about having doctor issued manufacturer's samples?

"There is nothing so frightening as ignorance in action."

I also have the same problem's here....I recieve a considerable amount of med's in the mail each month, along with packages from FedX, that require my signature,(Controlled Substances). With each mailing from the VA, comes a Rx slip with a complete description. I keep a copy of everything in my wallet. Since all my med's come a few days early, before I actually run out of anything, I have been putting the "Extra" into the last bottle, and am slowly building up a supply. I hope to eventually have a 30 day supply to fall back on. A Note here....with the VA med's....if you are taking a controlled substance, and it is lost or stolen, you MUST have a Police Report to present to the VA Pharmacy to get them replaced!

Krell

Good point. The problem is which laws; U.S. state, U.S. federal, U.S. Customs? And for the foreign traveler, there are all the national and customs laws for each country. And there's always the locally constabulary that one may unintentionally tick-off, causing them to find any way possible to make your life difficult.

My hope was to find a way to transport meds, in some more efficiently packed container than they were dispensed in, in such a way that no reasonable authority could question them. I think the second label attached to whatever container would do the job.

As for the doctor dispensed samples, no idea. Those samples don't always come from a doctor (I had an office assistant tell me how she carried sample meds in her purse to hand out to friends, this is greatly frowned upon in the medical profession). Might be just fine... Dunno'.

Need to see if my pharmacist can order my meds in blisters. Then label these in daily dose zip locks. I use the blisters for storing over-the-counter meds in my kits and EDC. I can't buy Claritin and Immodium in anything besides the blisters anyway and this keeps them from being crushed.

As far as the metal capsule hanging around my neck goes, I just put Claritin and Lorazepam (Ativan) in them. It contains a small vial. I curl instructions around the vial IDing the meds, what they are for, and what dosage to give: Claritin for Anaphylactic Shock and Lorazepam for Epileptic Seizures.

Now I have to figure out how to put something on the capsule to I.D. to some EMT what it is. And BELIEVE me, as much as I respect the profession, I was responded to by some real clueless EMTs who, if I wasn't actually partially conscious at the time, would have never even known how to read my medical alert necklace which was engraved on the opposite side: I had to turn it over for them. Engraving on the outside of the capsule, perhaps?

Samples should pass scrutiny, BUT, many drugs are not sampled (generics, most controlled meds).Sample pkgs are generally designed to maximize ad space, not to be space efficient. If "trimmed", then they may not pass scrutiny any better than other re-packaged meds.

Multiple "meds in baggies" can then be placed in a "harder" container (pill bottle, altoid tin, etc. Whatever is size appropriate.) to achieve both space efficiency and med protection.

BreathingMeat:
Unfortunately there are no CLEAR international standards, only general agreement, with varying degrees of enforcement re prescriptions.

Simon:
Check with a pharmacy that has a contract to supply long-term facilities ( nursing homes, etc), it should be equipped to blister pack meds ( though it may only be in month-long "pages")

I should have said: limit the quantities (as has been mentioned) and have them labeled.

If you've got a couple sample packs of Vicodins... meh. You've got a handful of Vicodins w/ paperwork... I would think this would be fine with just about anyone. You've got a bottle of 50 w/ no paperwork... I'd rather not find out the hard way who this may concern.

Sorry I couldn't help you. I tend not to travel internationally, although I used to on business. I often kept photocopies of the prescriptions and pharmacy info in an envelope fdr domestic travel. Because I want to build up to a 2 week supply in the BOB, the normal pill bottles work fine.

I look forward to the information that you find. Your question was one I never solved when I was a frequent traveler.

Just an FYI from the field......If going to another country, do not forget to write on the label what it is used for. Example...if you are given Vibra-tabs, be sure to write down that it is an antibiotic (it is Doxycycline) so that any providers that you may encounter will know what it is used for. Do NOT assume that they will know what it is for. We get a lot of tourists here and they are constantly bringing their Rx with them and we have never heard of most (if not all) of them. We later find out...oh that is used for..... If you label what type of medication it is, at least they'll (and you) will stand a better chance.