The FDA recently voted in favor of pushing a new formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride for approval. The new OxyContin formula is more difficult to crush or dissolve which will hopefully make it harder to be used as a drug of abuse . The FDA recommended that Purdue Pharma's application for a new, resin-coated formulation should replace the original version, which has been on the market since 1996. Randall Flick, MD, an anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic who voted to recommend approval of the drug said, "Clearly the old formulation is worse than the new, although I think the difference is relatively small," Flick concluded, "Hardcore abusers are likely to devise new ways to break down the harder tablet or figure out which solvents will dissolve it fastest, within 'day or weeks' of the product's release on the market."
Ireland's Railway Safety Commission (RSC) is considering introducing random substance abuse and alcohol testing for rail workers. The commission already conducts substance abuse and alcohol tests on current rail workers but believes that unannounced tests could further increase safety standards. In 2007 and 2008 random tests were carried out on 156 Irish Rail (Iarnród Eireann) workers and only two tested positive for illegal substances. According to the Irish Sunday Business Post Online - In 26 tests on workers after an ‘‘incident’’, two tested positive for drugs; in another two situations where ‘‘for cause’’ testing was considered necessary, both were positive.