OxyContin Maker Developing Electronic Drug Tracking June 1, 2005
News Summary
Purdue Pharma, the maker of the oft-abused painkiller OxyContin, is among a group of firms working on a system to electronically track shipments of pharmaceuticals, the Wall Street Journal reported May 31.The pharmaceutical firms is working with drug wholesaler H.D. Smith and technology companies to use radio-frequency tags to keep tabs on drug shipments. The system is expected to roll out in July.
States like Florida and Indiana have recently passed laws requiring pharmaceutical firms to maintain drug "pedigree" records in order to prevent illegal diversion and counterfeiting. The first state laws go into effect next July.
The laws allow companies to track drugs using paper records, but the Purdue Pharma project is intended to show that the technology is available to track drugs electronically. The system requires tiny tags with radio antennas to be placed on products, then read and recorded along the stops in the supply chain. Purdue officials say they have spent $2 million to get the technology up and running.
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