CA medication tracking system gets delayed
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
March 26, 2008
The state of California has tried for five years to create a drug tracking system, which would be used to keep tabs on counterfeit drugs, reports The Los Angeles Times. The state's law, the first of its kind in the US, is supposed to include an electronic system to monitor drugs from creation to their pharmacy destinations. Passed in 2004, the law required a system to be in place by January 1, 2007, but the legislature extended that deadline to January 1, 2009, and is considering extending it again to 2011.A drug tracking system like the one proposed could have helped prevent the recent outbreak of counterfeit heparin, which has been blamed for the deaths of 19 people. Currently, the World Health Organization estimates that 1% of all drugs are counterfeit, which could mean up to 3 million prescriptions in California.
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