"Inactive" ingredients in oral medications.

Reker, Daniel; Blum, Steven M; Steiger, Christoph; Anger, Kevin E; Sommer, Jamie M; Fanikos, John; Traverso, Giovanni · Sci Transl Med · 2019

review · Level V

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Abstract

Oral forms of medications contain "inactive" ingredients to enhance their physical properties. Using data analytics, we characterized the abundance and complexity of inactive ingredients in approved medications. A majority of medications contain ingredients that could cause adverse reactions, underscoring the need to maximize the tolerability and safety of medications and their inactive ingredients.

Medical subject headings