How To Accept Manual Entry Of Drug Unique Identifiers

Most regulations dictating the application of unique identifiers on drug packages also dictate specific data be encoded into a machine-readable barcode, and human readable text. The purpose of the machine-readable unique identifiers is obvious–to allow computers to read the product’s unique identifier quickly and accurately. The purpose of the human-readable unique identifier is less well-understood. Many believe it is to allow manual entry of the barcode contents when the barcode is unreadable for any reason. Others believe it is Continue reading How To Accept Manual Entry Of Drug Unique Identifiers

FDA New NDC Format Public Meeting

I attended the FDA’s New NDC Format Public Meeting last Monday where I presented my open letter that was last Monday’s RxTrace essay (see “An Open Letter To The FDA: New NDC Format Public Meeting”).  After a welcome from Dr. Janet Woodcock, Director, FDA, Center For Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and a brief overview of the purpose of the meeting by Paul Loebach of FDA CDER, there were nine presentations from stakeholders and the public.  After each presentation, the FDA panel Continue reading FDA New NDC Format Public Meeting

An Open Letter To The FDA: New NDC Format Public Meeting

Dear FDA:
Thank you for inviting interested parties like me to provide our thoughts on the new NDC format that you think will be necessary in 10 to 15 years (see “FDA Seeks Input On The Future Format of the National Drug Code”).  I hope you can make it that long, but regardless, now is certainly the time to begin working on a replacement. Continue reading An Open Letter To The FDA: New NDC Format Public Meeting