Medication on Board

Airlines are continuously adding to their lists of restricted items in checked and carry-on baggage. Travelers can often be seen unloading oversized liquids at the security gate and begrudgingly handing them over to a TSA agent or tossing them in the trash. Perfumes and bottled water can easily be replaced, but patients traveling with costly medications can’t risk leaving them behind.

A patient who was traveling into the US from South America explained that she not only needed to bring her medication on her flight, but that it had to be kept on ice for the duration. The medicine was valued at over $1,000, so failure to preserve the medication would create a major expense for the patient. The Colpitts Clinical Team coordinated with the patient and the pharmacy that supplied the medication in order to understand the exact conditions under which the medication should be kept. The team then worked with the airlines on which the patient was flying, and US customs to ensure that the medicine would arrive in the US with the patient and ready for use.

In another situation, a patient arrived at their destination only to find out that their specialized order of portable oxygen could not be filled by any company in the area. Since there are strict regulations regarding the transport of medicine across state lines, the Colpitts Clinical Team had to exercise caution when searching for an alternate supplier. The team was able to work with government restrictions and have the equipment shipped from Colorado to the patient’s location.