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Pharma Dispensers Need Linear Barcodes

A director for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores discussed practical aspects of serialization, including barcode readability issues.

“Except for certain circumstances, you do have to add a linear barcode, even if a 2D code is provided. We hope manufacturers were paying attention to that,” said Christopher Smith, Director of Federal Public Policy at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), when he addressed the 11th Pharma Packaging and Labeling East Coast 2019 conference.

Though pharmacists don't really have to start transacting with serialized product until 2020, the NACDSis looking at the practical aspects of serialization to ensure patients maintain access to their medications.

Practical data transfer

How do pharmacists know if a drug is legitimate grandfathered product and that the manufacturer met their obligation? Smith said that at this point, pharmacies are relying on the Transaction Statement (TS).

There are still many lingering questions, he noted, such as:

  • What if the product arrives at the pharmacy before the data does?

  • What about delays caused when the 3 Ts—Transaction Information (TI), Transaction History (TH) and TS—aren’t received by a pharmacy directly but at a centralized location or third party?

If pharmacists are not able to verify the data right there where the product is, and data must be verified through a third party, it can be burdensome and slow down the supply chain.

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