It has change into more and more mandatory for healthcare executives to observe the pharmaceutical provide chain, primarily as overdose deaths associated to counterfeit capsule use greater than doubled from July-Sept. 2019 to Oct.-Dec. 2021, according to the CDC.
The FDA sought to handle the difficulty by enacting the Drug Provide Chain Safety Act (DSCSA), which went into impact in November. Nonetheless, healthcare executives autonomously want a cohesive technique to observe the pharmaceutical provide chain.
Gee Mathen, director of pharmacy scientific purposes and technical companies at Texas Children’s Hospital, will handle the difficulty in a session at HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition in Orlando subsequent week entitled, “Combating Counterfeit Medication and the Drug Provide Chain Safety Act.”
Mathen shared some highlights of his upcoming session with MobiHealthNews, and what he hopes attendees will study from the dialogue.
MobiHealthNews: Are you able to present some highlights of your HIMSS24 session?
Gee Mathen: My session will cowl the subject of how DSCSA will influence the discount of counterfeit medicine within the healthcare sector. The session will give attention to the regulation and the significance of it. The worldwide market has now seen a whole shift into how dangerous actors can influence affected person care, and the presentation will spotlight how the complete course of is impacted from manufacturing to the affected person.
MHN: Are counterfeit medicine a giant downside within the healthcare sector?
Mathen: Counterfeit medicine are a critical subject in U.S. healthcare, posing a risk to public well being. Whereas the precise proportion is unknown, estimates suggest a good portion of the U.S. drug market is infiltrated by counterfeits.
These faux drugs usually lack important substances, rendering them ineffective in treating sicknesses. In some circumstances, counterfeit medicine include incorrect dosages or dangerous substances, resulting in critical well being problems.
Past particular person hurt, counterfeit medicine additionally cause economic damage by undermining professional pharmaceutical companies. The advanced and international nature of counterfeit operations makes it a difficult downside to handle. Regardless of efforts to strengthen the U.S. drug provide chain, extra steps have to be taken to guard our sufferers.
MHN: How is DSCSA very important to making sure affected person security?
Mathen: The Drug Provide Chain Safety Act performs a vital position in safeguarding affected person security by establishing a track-and-trace system for prescribed drugs all through the complete provide chain.
This method permits for the verification of the authenticity and origin of every treatment, serving to to determine and forestall the distribution of counterfeit medicine. By implementing stricter safety measures inside the provide chain, DSCSA reduces the danger of sufferers receiving ineffective or dangerous counterfeit drugs.
Moreover, DSCSA enhances traceability in case of drug remembers, enabling authorities to rapidly and successfully take away compromised drugs from the market. This improved traceability additionally facilitates investigations into counterfeit drug operations, doubtlessly resulting in the disruption of those unlawful actions.
Finally, the act empowers sufferers to have higher confidence within the integrity and security of the prescribed drugs they obtain.
Whereas the implementation of the DSCSA is ongoing, it represents a big step ahead in defending sufferers from the risks of counterfeit medicine and selling a safer healthcare surroundings.
MHN: What do you hope attendees study out of your session?
Mathen: I hope the session will give a spotlight of what we realized in our strategy of monitoring drug provide from manufacturing to the affected person. There will probably be insights on how expertise will play an necessary position in stopping counterfeit drugs within the system right now.
The 2024 HIMSS International Well being Convention & Exhibition takes place on March 11-15, 2024, in Orlando, Florida. Learn more and register.
