After a recent issue with doctors stateside who received counterfeit treatment products, a more rigorous process has now been introduced to check what is being sent in using a national database system.
Last week it was revealed by the Food and Drug Administration that around 19 doctors bought a version of the colon, lung and brain cancer drug Avastin which was counterfeit. Since then stringent checks have now been put in place that involve the usage of barcode labels.
Under this new system any new drugs received at centres such as the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will be thoroughly reviewed. What this means in practice is that pharmacy staff will scan the barcode labels present on the packages. From this they will be able to perform a check of the coding to ensure the validity of the prescription drugs arriving at the hospital.
Sylvia Bartel, vice president for pharmacy at the institute, explained that should any issues be present, then the wholesale supplier is obliged to provide the hospital with a detailed history of what has happened to the drug since it was first manufactured.
The margins for error are so high when it comes to drugs to treat cancer and so this tracking system ensures that everything is done meticulously in future.