Impact of Drug Formulation on Abuse Liability, Safety and Regulatory Decisions. Proceedings and abstracts of a conference, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, April 2005.

Abstract

In light of recent increased publicity concerning diversion and tampering with prescription medications, new formulations are being widely considered as a strategy to reduce risk. These approaches are occurring in a context where regulatory, law enforcement and research frameworks have not been fully developed to accommodate these new formulations. As a result, College on Problems of Drug Dependence sponsored the conference "Impact of Drug Formulation on Abuse Liability, Safety and Regulatory Decisions," held in North Bethesda, Maryland in April, 2005 with Edward Sellers and Charles R. Schuster serving as co-chairs. To accomplish the desired goals, papers on key topics were commissioned and these papers were presented at the conference along with submitted presentations from other invitees. This supplement to Drug and Alcohol Dependence contains the manuscripts arising from presentations at the meeting, a summary of recommendations, and abstracts of the other submitted papers. Our hope is that the proceedings of this meeting will contribute importantly to the consideration of the research, regulatory and public health issues raised by the development of new formulations designed to reduce the diversion and abuse of medications.