subject: Many Pharmaceutical Companies Continue To Market Products In Capsule Form [print this page] The recent discovery in Westchester County of Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide has focused new attention on the use of Capsule Filling Machines for drug delivery.When capsules were invented in the mid-19th century, they provided a significant improvement in the palatability of medications. But now, experts say, their vulnerability to tampering may outweigh their benefits, especially since advances in formulating tablets have made them easier to swallow.Many pharmaceutical companies continue to market products in capsule form, however, because the consumer has come to perceive this as the most efficient method of taking medication, according to Dr. Garnet E. Peck, director of the industrial pharmacy laboratory at Purdue. A 'Mystique' About Capsules
''There is a certain mystique that surrounds capsule fillers among consumers.'' Dr. Peck added. ''There are times when a manufacturer will put a product in a capsule instead of a tablet to give the drug a physical appearance that is different and therefore make it more competitive.''With acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, there is little difference between capsules and tablets in terms of the rate at which the drug is absorbed by the body, according to Dr. Leslie Benet, chairman of the department of pharmacy at the University of California at San Francisco.Nonetheless, a survey by the Warner-Lambert Company, the leading producer of empty gelatin capsules, in 1983 after the first Tylenol-related deaths found that 54 percent of the Americans surveyed preferred medicine in capsule filling machine form, while 29 percent preferred medicine in coated form and only 13 percent liked medicine in uncoated tablet form.Marshall Molloy of Warner-Lambert said that after the first Tylenol poisonings, ''it was thought that the very best technology in packaging would solve the problem.'' Now, companies may well consider eliminating capsules for some over-the-counter products. Tablets Can Be Made Faster
