Taking Mediacation onboard Virgin Airline

[Pudders]

Before I ring Virgin Holidays (in India). Does anyone know what the score is with taking carrying medication onboard the plane? My father-in-law has thousands of pills and wants to know if he needs to have a note from the doctor to pass on to the airline or for immigration?

Any help appreciated.[msnsmile]

Thanks guys

[derek birchenough]

Hi

I have high blood pressure and take 6 pills a day to
keep it low.[msnsmile2] I travelled with Virgin twice since I was diagnosed.

I had no problem, no note required I carried 5 weeks supply in my hand luggage, at the airport no one batted an eyelid.

I think its a way of life nowadays[msncool]

[mizzy]

you are advised to take them in your hand luggage and in the original labelled prescription boxes/ bottles

i would also advise you to take a copy of the repeat prescription just in case

[berni_richards]

they do need to be labelled as Mizzy says and the repeat prescription is an excellent idea this is what my MIL does anyway and her insulin in a cool bag thingy too including all the spare needles.

[brendawilliams]

We have had no problems carrying prescription medication in hand luggage. We were told by Virgin that they need to be in their original packaging and with the individual's name on the label. Taking a repeat prescription is a good idea and one I will use in the future - thanks for the tip Maria[msnsmile]

[Katys Grandad]

The rules for liquid medication are much more specific and carry-on should generally be limited to what you might need during the flight. They will need to be labelled.

You shouldn't have any problem with tablets but it's a good idea to have them in the original containers showing what they are to avoid any issues with customs or immigration.

[LiesaAnna]

i took morphine onboard with other medication and took a letter to cover it all, always better to have and not need then to need and not have and in origional boxes with your name and what it is on the side,

[blott]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Katys Grandad
The rules for liquid medication are much more specific and carry-on should generally be limited to what you might need during the flight. They will need to be labelled.[/quote]I don't know about other liquid medication but insulin supplies, even in excess of the liquid allowance, are fine as hand luggage as it's temperature sensitive and cannot travel in your suitcase.

I was told by security at Manchester that they would never confiscate insulin type medication on which anyone was life dependant even if the supplies were over the allowance and, if there was any problem at all, to ask for the security Team Leader. This applies to all airports.

And, of course, on all my trips since the liquid regulations were introduced, I have no problems at all. I just make sure that I take their original pharmacy box with the label with my name on it, a repeat prescription, also a letter from my doctor and more than enough to cover my trip.

To answer Clayton's original question, there are, as Liesa has said, US Customs limitations for importing certain prescribed tablets into the USA, like opiates (ie morphine or morphine based very strong pain medications etc). If in doubt whether your FIL is taking this type of medication, get him to check with his doctor whether any he's taking are in this category and to get a letter.

Otherwise, keep all tablets in pharmacy boxes or bottles with your FIL's name on them, a repeat prescription and enough to last the whole trip, including a some spares in case there's an unexpected delay returning home.

[LiesaAnna]

also i asked my pharmacist to make it up in the allowed quantity, ie 100mls for the plane and the rest 200mls in a normal bottle for suitcase, they were more then helpful to do this

[Mrs Brizzle]

I would advise you to ring Virgin anyway, they are really good and have made a note on our booking about mother in laws insulin requirements. She also has a letter from the doctor to say her meds need to stay in her hand baggage. As someone else said its a way of life and they deal with it all the time, it's either that or no one would fly