California Pharmacy Board Delays Deadline for Drug Tracking Requirement
The California Pharmacy Board on Tuesday voted unanimously to delay by two years the deadline for implementing an electronic drug tracking system that the state Legislature approved in 2004, the New York Times reports. The new deadline is Jan. 1, 2011 (Pollack, New York Times, 3/26).
The tracking system, which was developed to address concerns about counterfeit pharmaceuticals, is the first law in the U.S. to require an "electronic pedigree" system that would allow drug shipments to be tracked from production through their sale to consumers. The California Legislature in 2006 moved the deadline for implementation from Jan. 1, 2007, to Jan. 1, 2009 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/25).
Industry officials told the board that they would be unable to meet the Jan. 1, 2009, deadline and that drug companies would be forced to stop selling pharmaceuticals in California, rather than risk violating the law. McKesson senior vice president Ronald Bone told the panel that according to a survey conducted by the company, 100 of 650 drug makers said they would be ready to put a tracking system in place by the 2009 deadline (New York Times, 3/26). "It's the requirement to have all pharmaceuticals pedigreed and serialized that is plaguing the manufacturer community -- even the biggest manufacturers because of broad products made in various part of the world," Bone said. "We feel it's in the best interest of the patient population to not be stopped from getting those products."
Virginia Herold, the board's executive officer, said, "We reluctantly had to delay, faced with pretty much uniform statements from the supply chain that they would not be ready" (Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle, 3/26).
