A call for RFID pilots was heard from the California Board of Pharmacy during the 4th Annual EPC Connection Conference & Exhibition held in early October in Rosemont, IL. Judi Nurse, supervising inspector of the California Board of Pharmacy, noted that the goal through electronic tagging is to prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the supply chain in California. "The problem has been the inability to track the source of counterfeit drugs," she said.
A small, but attentive audience that included representatives from Amerisource Bergen and Wal-Mart Pharmacy listened to an update of developments relating to the California ePedigree at the EPC Connection event. Speakers included Nurse, and Bob Celeste, Action Groups director for EPCglobal North America , a subgroup of GS1, which partnered with RFID Journal for the event.
By Jan 1, 2009, all prescription medications need to be electronically tagged from the manufacturer to the pharmacy. However, Nurse noted that the California Board of Pharmacy has the power to delay the deadline until January 1, 2011, suggesting that was unlikely at this point.
Celeste compared the pedigree to layers of nested Russian dolls as product transactions moved between trading partners within the supply chain. He noted that there were multiple paths to pedigree compliance, including a pedigree messaging service level (which provides tracing capability only) and ECCIS and Discovery Service (true track-and-trace capability). "This will permit the mining of pedigree data, not just access," he said. Celeste suggested those companies affected by the ePedigree should:
• Decide to act
• Get educated on standards
• Develop short-term and long-term strategies
• Get involved with the GS1 Healthcare groups, either United States-based or global groups
Some key points heard from the presenters:
• Questions were addressed relating to pedigree for "repackaging" and returns, which would be a continuation of the original pedigree
• Samples provided without cost to a patient don't require a pedigree
• Things can get tricky such as in the use of inference—a pharmacy could be held liable if it had the chance to scan (RFID read) every bottle but didn't, according to the Board
• There was also a call for pilots at all levels of the supply chain
Nurse also noted that there are plans to develop a list of Frequently Asked Questions at the Board's Web site. Meanwhile, questions can be e-mailed to californiapedigree@dca.ca.gov, or the Board can be reached at 916/574-7900.
--By Rick Lingle, technical and RFID editor, Packaging World
