Flying with Enbrel: Where the Storage Instructions Are Written, and What to Organize Before You Go

This information is general and for convenience only, and it is not medical advice. Medication storage, temperatures and doses are set by your doctor, your pharmacist and the manufacturer's leaflet. Talk to a professional before making any decision.

The Enbrel search trap

Every medication has its own trap, and Enbrel's is linguistic.

In the Hebrew leaflet, the active ingredient is transliterated in a spelling almost nobody would guess on their own. And the Hebrew brand name is too short, so a partial search for its first few letters returns completely unrelated products.

What works: search for Enbrel in English, or for the active ingredient etanercept. Both appear in the leaflet itself.

Before you search, look at the box

Enbrel is sold in more than one strength and more than one type of device, and each combination has its own registration and its own leaflet. The strength and the device type are printed on the box, and that's what lets you check that you've opened the leaflet for the product you actually received.

This isn't about dosing, and we won't touch that. It's an identification label, like a model number, and without it it's easy to open the leaflet for a different product.

How to get to the leaflet

The official leaflets are published in the Israeli Ministry of Health Pharmaceutical Division drug database. The full method, step by step, is in our article on how to find the official storage instructions for a medication that needs refrigeration. In short: search, check that the strength and device type match the box, go to the "leaflets and more information" section, and choose the leaflet with the most recent date.

A limitation we want to be upfront about: for Enbrel, unlike other medications, we didn't find a page in Clalit's medication guide. That means there's no easy-to-read web page version, and the route is the leaflet itself or your pharmacist.

What to read slowly in the storage section

The leaflet is long, but you're looking for one section. Three things that are easy to miss in it:

• Whether it's one period or cumulative periods. The difference matters a lot for planning a trip.
• What the instruction says about what happens at the end of that period.
• Whether you're asked to record a date. The Enbrel leaflet has a request like this, and we don't quote it here. The practical meaning is that it's worth packing a marker or a sticker.

What you won't find here

We won't write how long is allowed, we won't write what to do if the product went outside the range, and we won't write whether it's still usable.

We sell a cooled carrying case for medication. A number that appears on a website selling a fridge stops reading as a quote and starts reading as our instruction, and we have no qualification to give that kind of instruction. These are questions for your pharmacist and the leaflet.

What to organize before the flight

Here we're within our area. Three points that Clalit Health Services publishes, and they apply directly to anyone traveling with syringes:

• A prescription. "Travelers carrying medication given by syringe or pump, such as insulin, must show a prescription for the medication to representatives of the security authorities at the airport."
• Original packaging. "Airport security guidelines require medication to be kept in its original packaging." And that's handy for another reason too: the strength is printed on the box, and that's exactly what you need to find the right leaflet.
• Hand luggage. "It's preferable to keep medication in your hand luggage and not in the suitcase sent to the hold."

Source: Clalit, medication to take abroad (Hebrew). A limitation we want to be upfront about: the page shows an update date of August 12, 2019, and security procedures change, so confirm any critical detail with your airline. More about the screening itself is in our article on flying from Israel with refrigerated medication.

The logistics side of a long trip

Once the question is how to hold the cooling range throughout the trip, without hunting for a hotel fridge and without guessing what's happening inside a cooler bag, it's an equipment question, not a medical one.

The Secrets Box by Practi plugs into a wall outlet, a power bank or a USB adapter for the car's lighter socket, stays within 2 to 8°C (36 to 46°F) as long as it is plugged in, and shows the temperature on a digital display. The power bank and the car adapter are sold separately and are not included in the box. It needs 10W of power, and 20,000mAh or more is recommended. There's no disconnect alert, so check the connection now and then.

See the product page · Read next: Medication cooler bag or portable fridge?

How this article was written. We gathered this information from public sources online and brought it together in one place. We are not a medical body, we have no medical or pharmacy qualification, and no medical professional has gone over this article.

Accurate as of the update date shown at the top of this article. Information may change. Security procedures, airline guidelines, medication leaflets and product specifications change from time to time, and the information here may no longer be up to date. It is the reader's responsibility to verify every detail with the official source before acting on it.

This article is general information, not medical advice. For questions about your medication, talk to your pharmacist or doctor. It contains no recommendation on medication storage, dose, method of use or how long a medication stays usable. The only sources for those questions are your medication's patient leaflet, your pharmacist and your doctor. Responsibility for storing and using the medication lies solely with the user and their healthcare provider. The Secrets Box is a cooled carrying case for medication and is not a medical device.

Questions? You can contact us.