Daniel from Improve Press
It has develop into more and more obligatory 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, in accordance with the CDC.
The FDA sought to deal with 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 medical functions and technical companies at Texas Youngsters’s Hospital, will tackle the difficulty in a session at HIMSS International Convention & Exhibition in Orlando subsequent week entitled, “Combating Counterfeit Medicine and the Drug Provide Chain Safety Act.”
Mathen shared some highlights of his upcoming session with MobiHealthNews and what he hopes attendees will be taught 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 medication within the healthcare sector. The session will deal with the regulation and the significance of it. The worldwide market has now seen a whole shift into how unhealthy actors can influence affected person care, and the presentation will spotlight how your entire course of is impacted from manufacturing to the affected person.
MHN: Are counterfeit medication an enormous downside within the healthcare sector?
Mathen: Counterfeit medication are a critical difficulty in U.S. healthcare, posing a menace to public well being. Whereas the precise share is unknown, estimates recommend a good portion of the U.S. drug market is infiltrated by counterfeits.
These pretend medicines usually lack important substances, rendering them ineffective in treating diseases. In some circumstances, counterfeit medication include incorrect dosages or dangerous substances, resulting in critical well being issues.
Past particular person hurt, counterfeit medication additionally trigger financial harm by undermining authentic pharmaceutical companies. The advanced and international nature of counterfeit operations makes it a difficult downside to deal with. Regardless of efforts to strengthen the U.S. drug provide chain, extra steps must be taken to guard our sufferers.
MHN: How is DSCSA 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 your entire provide chain.
This technique permits for the verification of the authenticity and origin of every medicine, serving to to determine and forestall the distribution of counterfeit medication. By implementing stricter safety measures inside the provide chain, DSCSA reduces the danger of sufferers receiving ineffective or dangerous counterfeit medicines.
Moreover, DSCSA enhances traceability in case of drug recollects, enabling authorities to rapidly and successfully take away compromised medicines 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 larger 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 hazards of counterfeit medication and selling a safer healthcare surroundings.
MHN: What do you hope attendees be taught out of your session?
Mathen: I hope the session will give a spotlight of what we discovered in our technique of monitoring drug provide from manufacturing to the affected person. There can be insights on how know-how will play an essential position in stopping counterfeit medicines within the system at the moment.
The 2024 HIMSS International Well being Convention & Exhibition takes place on March 11-15, 2024, in Orlando, Florida. Study extra and register.
