An article of manufacture in the form of a gel pharmaceutical formulation for local anesthesia is prepared by a process comprising: coating a supporting substrate, which preferably is porous, e.g., a non-woven fabric, and has an impervious backing sheet, with a matrix of a copolymer of alkyl (meth)acrylates and (meth)acrylic acid and a local anesthetic whereby the matrix penetrates the substrate, crosslinking the copolymer in the matrix to form a polymer/drug matrix, and coating the surface of the matrix with an aqueous fluid, thereby converting the matrix into a gel and preferably covering the gel matrix with an impervious protective sheet. The product has excellent percutaneous absorption, provides local anesthesia easily just by attaching the formulation to the skin, enables elimination of various kinds of pain, such as the pain at the time of hypodermic injection, can be removed easily from the skin, and causes no soiling of fingers, hands or cloths.