Tag Archives: Congress

FDA

InBrief: Comments on H.R. 3204 by FDA’s Dr. Ilisa Bernstein at PSM Interchange 13

October 25, 2013 Dirk Rodgers 1 Comment

Dr. Ilisa Bernstein, Pharm.D, JD, Deputy Director of the U.S. FDA Office of Compliance in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), delivered the keynote address at yesterday’s Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) Interchange 2013 event (see “Dr Ilisa Bernstein of FDA CDER Office of Compliance To Keynote PSM Interchange”).

Her presentation covered the full range of activities that the FDA is currently pursuing to improve the security of the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain, including their efforts to implement the new powers they were given by Congress in last year’s FDA Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA). Continue reading InBrief: Comments on H.R. 3204 by FDA’s Dr. Ilisa Bernstein at PSM Interchange 13 →

California Pedigree Law, Federal Pedigree

California, Congress and The Choices We Are Forced To Face

October 7, 2013 Dirk Rodgers 11 Comments

Another week has gone by with no official movement in the Senate on the compromise pharmaceutical compounding and track & trace bill, H.R. 3204, the Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA) (see “Waiting For The Senate To Act On A Track & Trace Bill, Again”). With the focus of the Congress rightly on reopening the government I think we should expect to wait a little longer. You can bet that the supporters and the opposition are both developing their strategy as time goes by.

I attended the GS1 Global Healthcare Conference in San Francisco last week and it was a great opportunity to reconnect with a lot of people I have worked with over the years on defining workable standards for healthcare supply chain data exchange. Some of us are Continue reading California, Congress and The Choices We Are Forced To Face →

Congress, Federal Pedigree

Waiting For The Senate To Act On A Track & Trace Bill, Again

September 30, 2013 Dirk Rodgers 1 Comment

The U.S. House of Representatives made quick work of the new bipartisan, bicameral compounding and track & trace bill draft that was circulated only last Wednesday evening (see “InBrief: Important New Bicameral Draft Of A Pharma Supply Chain Security Bill”). They interrupted their debate over defunding “ObamaCare”, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), for a quick voice vote on the newly numbered H.R. 3204, Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA) and it passed (see the draft bill here).

So now we are waiting for the Senate to take action, just as we have for the last 3 months since the House of Representatives voted to pass their earlier bill with drug supply chain track & trace provisions, H.R. 1919, Safeguarding America’s Pharmaceuticals Act, back in June (see “InBrief: The Pharma Track & Trace Bill Has Passed the U.S. House Of Representatives“ and “Still Waiting For The Senate”). The Senate had their own Continue reading Waiting For The Senate To Act On A Track & Trace Bill, Again →

Congress, Federal Pedigree

InBrief: Important New Bicameral Draft Of A Pharma Supply Chain Security Bill

September 26, 2013 Dirk Rodgers

I just arrived in California a couple hours ago to attend the next California Board of Pharmacy ePedigree Committee meeting later this morning. I was expecting to check into my hotel and go to bed, but as soon as I turned my phone back on I received multiple notices that a new bipartisan, bicameral draft of a pharma supply chain security bill was being circulated for review and comment. The email from the Senate HELP Committee was timestamped at 9:54pm EDT on Wednesday and they want people to comment on it by noon on Thursday. Wow. I still hope to get some sleep tonight, but I wanted to Continue reading InBrief: Important New Bicameral Draft Of A Pharma Supply Chain Security Bill →

Congress, Federal Pedigree

Federal Pedigree: Caught In A Web Of Politics

August 5, 2013 Dirk Rodgers 1 Comment

Seventeen months ago, the goal of the Pharmaceutical Distribution Security Alliance (PDSA) was to get a nationwide track & trace bill introduced into Congress and then get it attached to some “must-pass” legislation which would pull it through to certain passage. They found sympathetic members of both houses of Congress and they worked together to produce a single bill. Last summer the “must-pass” legislation was the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) which was combined with other bills and was enacted as the FDA Security and Innovation Act (FDASIA). See “What If RxTEC Isn’t Adopted?”, “PDUFA Will Not Include RxTEC” and “The Supply Chain Provisions Of The FDA Safety & Innovation Act”.)

Unfortunately the track & trace Continue reading Federal Pedigree: Caught In A Web Of Politics →

Congress, Federal Pedigree

Senators Propose Amendments To S. 959

July 29, 2013 Dirk Rodgers

As many of you pointed out to me in private emails last Friday after I had claimed that things had been quiet, there had indeed been some significant activity on S. 959, “Pharmaceutical Quality, Security, and Accountability Act” (PQSA) that occurred last week. Even though the bill was awaiting action on the Senate floor, the bill managers in the Senate are apparently able to pull it back and amend it, and that’s what they did. The bill is a combination of the “Pharmaceutical Compounding Quality and Accountability Act” and the “Drug Supply Chain Security Act” and my interest is in the latter so I will limit my analysis to that part of the current bill.

The amendments are fairly light and sprinkled throughout. Most have little to no affect on the meaning or implementation of the bill–these include reformatting, corrections and minor logical adjustments–but there are a few things that are notable. Continue reading Senators Propose Amendments To S. 959 →

Congress, Federal Pedigree

Still Waiting For The Senate

July 26, 2013 Dirk Rodgers

A number of RxTrace subscribers asked me to provide an update on the current state of the federal pedigree legislation since things have been so quiet lately. As you may recall, the U.S. House of Representatives passed their H.R. 1919, “Safeguarding America’s Pharmaceuticals Act” about six weeks ago (see “InBrief: The Pharma Track & Trace Bill Has Passed the U.S. House Of Representatives“). The Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee sent their S. 959 “Pharmaceutical Compounding Quality and Accountability Act” to the Senate floor two months ago (see. “InBrief: A Track & Trace bill Has Made It To The Senate Floor“).

So currently we are waiting for Continue reading Still Waiting For The Senate →

Congress, Federal Pedigree