Alcohol in pharmaceutical products

Alcohol is the diluent in more than 500 proprietary products and is found in concentrations up to 68 percent. This factor can pose significant problems in patient management; for example, problems can arise in the alcoholic patient under disulfiram therapy, in the patient with active peptic ulcer disease and in the patient under treatment with central nervous system depressants or other substances that interact with alcohol. The alcohol content raises difficulties with abstinence programs and adolescent alcohol abuse. A list of pharmaceutical products containing alcohol is included.