US FDA asks drugmakers to limit amount of opioid drug in pack

27 February 2018

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is asking manufacturers of a common opioid medicine to change the way the drug is packaged, as part of efforts to deter its abuse amid an opioid epidemic in the United States.
The agency wants to eliminate the large bottles in which loperamide is often sold because the abuse of the drug requires such large quantities. It is also influencing doctors to prescribe shorter-duration opioids. The actions are also part of the agency’s efforts to reduce patients’ exposure to opioids, which killed more than 42,000 Americans in 2016, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Reuters Health News, 30 January 2018).
Click here to read the full news item.
Click here to read the FDA press announcement about the matter.
Click here for more information about the NVC project Pharmaceutical Packaging Innovation.
Click here for more information about the Live Online NVC E-Course Pharmaceutical Packaging.

This news item is also included in our monthly overview, the NVC Members-only Update. If you have any questions, please contact us: info@nvc.nl, +31-(0)182-512411.