the drug substance for systemic uptake following administration to a patient excipients that increase the compressibility and adhesion of the active substance are added to the powder mixture before compression to impart strength while so called disintegrants added to the tablet formulation assist in the breakage and release of the drug into the systemic fluids following administration for brittle and semi brittle tablets that are not individually protected limited attrition can occur at the edges due to localized stresses leading to the formation of radial and lateral cracks under the surface the sub surface lateral cracks are considered to be the primary cause for material removal by attrition the risk of inadvertent exposure to a drug substance to an individual other than the patient is high when due to such attrition the drug substance could u201c chip off u201d either during direct handling or due to attrition during shipping and storage a method to avoid such exposure without changing the formulation or the rate of drug release for absorption is to form a thin but effective barrier layer of a protective film around the tablet as shown in fig1 that is completely free of the drug substance resists chipping and erosion and yet completely and immediately dissolves in contact with physiological media so as not to influence the drug release rate upon administration in addition to the film a rounded ovoid shape of the tablet will reduce the number and length of edges that are more prone to surface erosion of the active ingredient during handling shipping and storage one such method of forming the film is to apply a thin but robust coat of a polymer solution or suspension.