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  5. FDA Science Behind Doxycycline Home Preparation Instructions
  1. Bioterrorism and Drug Preparedness

FDA Science Behind Doxycycline Home Preparation Instructions

The following home preparation instructions for doxycycline, prepared by the CDC, are not to be used except in the case of a declared public health emergency. The scientific research below provided data to support the development of home preparation instructions for doxycycline:

  • Stability, dose uniformity and palatability of doxycycline were studied. (Sadrieh N, Brower J, Yu L et al. (2005) Stability, dose uniformity, and palatability of three counterterrorism drugs – human subject and electronic tongue studies. Pharmaceutical Research 22:1747-1756.).  The following links contain information on the palatability, stability, and dose uniformity of doxycycline.
  • Crushing the pills is difficult.  Dissolution studies demonstrated that the pills could be softened for 5 minutes in water prior to crushing, thereby making the crushing easier (unpublished information).

These emergency home preparation instructions for doxycycline have been prepared by CDC for use only during a public health emergency, and should only be distributed and used if instructed to do so by a public health official during such an emergency. 

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