US regulator approves first drug made with 3-D printer

It is not the drug that is made with a 3D printer, it is the delivery system (i.e., the tablet). Bad journalism.

Why do you need a 3d printer to make a tablet? Aren't normal methods much faster and more convenient than building a tablet line by line and layer by layer?

Another article, another crap headline. As Mr. Gonzales asks, why would you use a 3-D printer? In fact, I'm pretty sure that something like a pill can't be made with a 3-D printer and is actually something better realized, conceptually, with a 3-D simulation on a computer.

The biggest problem is the phrase itself - 3-D printing. Printing will always be two-dimensional. Fabricating a physical object from a 2-D image is not printing but more akin to moulding.

As it says in the last paragraph, designing and, maybe, producing medical devices is a more practical use of the process.

Added cost without added benefit for this application. It may have benefit in future drug applications.

With the 3D printer, the consistency of the tablet can be easily set. It can be made "fuzzy" or "airy" so it will dissolve instantly.

gokai_wo_manekuAUG. 06, 2015 - 03:17PM JST With the 3D printer, the consistency of the tablet can be easily set. It can be made "fuzzy" or "airy" so it will dissolve instantly.

These characteristics are already obtainable with conventional compounding.

gokai_wo_maneku. Can I print Ice with 3 D printer? Gee, every Bikie gang members will want it if 3D printer can print out Ice.