Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/922724
Tablets & Capsules January 2018 17 A buse of opioid painkillers in the US is a major problem contributing to an escalating drug overdose epidemic. According to the US Department of Health & Human Services, 12.5 million people misused prescription opioids in 2015, with 2.1 million misusing them for the first time. As a consequence, 33,091 people died from overdosing on opioids, and more than 22,000 of these cases involved prescription opioids. A 2016 study estimated that in 2013, the economic burden of Too many Americans are misusing or abusing prescription opioids. This article summarizes recent FDA initiatives in this area and assesses the technologies manufacturers have adopted to curb abuse. It concludes with a description of how the author's company developed a capsule-based, abuse-deterrent formulation of levorphanol. Abuse-deterrent formulation technologies: Opportunities and limitations Alyn McNaughton Lonza formulation