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8324596 
Journal Article 
Incomplete Labeling of Pharmaceuticals: A List of Inactive Ingredients 
Brown, JL 
1983 
1 
New England Journal of Medicine
ISSN: 0028-4793
EISSN: 1533-4406 
309 
7 
439-441 
English 
To the Editory: After making an effort to ascertain whether an antibiotic prescribed for a patient with extreme lactose intolerance contained lactose as a “filler,” I was most surprised to learn that pharmaceutical ingredients that are not classified as being active for a particular oral medication are often not listed on the medication label, in the package insert, or in the Physicians' Desk Reference. Such commonly used “inactive” adjuvants as lactose have been documented as causing gastrointestinal symptoms in lactose-sensitive patients,1 and benzyl alcohol used as a bacteriostatic agent in normal saline has been implicated in neonatal deaths and. © 1983, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.