[PHXFlyer]

Point well taken, Jim, but also consider this. Is it really wise to turn over something worth, as stated, $ 3500 USD to the care and custody of an airline crew? Add to that the fact that it's highly perishable. If I had that much invested in perishable medications I would pay to have an experienced, insured shipper pack it and guarantee it's safe delivery.

Let's also think of the position the airline crew was put in by this request. We're not talking about a baby bottle here but a box, likely the original pharmaceutical packaging, of something they probably know nothing about. Does the box really contain what it says? Even if the contents are what is labeled it is an international flight and there are other liabilities involved. Suppose it is later learned that the drug being imported is illegal. Would the airline crew then be an accessory to smuggling contraband?

Regardless of the information given on the phone I think the OP should have taken better care to ensure the safe transport of their expensive and perishable item and also be more personally accountable for what happened. Also try to see it from the perspective of the airline crew. If you were handed a box containing an unknown substance and asked to store it with other perishables that other passengers, for which your primary duty is their safety, would be consuming during the flight would you take that risk? If informed they were expensive medications would you risk being held liable if they were damaged or spoiled in any way as a result of their handling? Would you be afraid that you could lose your job and/or be arrested by customs officials in China if it turned out to be illegal substances and now you had a part in their illegal importation? The person on the phone is not the crew. The person on the phone is not the one charged with the safety of the passengers and not the one being asked to take the risks I've pointed out. The crew has the final say in such matters.