Wireless World: Drugs next stage for RFID

By Gene J. Koprowski
UPI Technology News

Published 11/19/2004 11:22 AM
CHICAGO, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Radio tracking technology is poised to remake the prescription drug distribution business -- and maybe even save lives -- after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week cleared the regulatory pathway.The FDA issued a special guidance to the pharmaceutical industry that said companies using this new technology will not violate regulations governing product labeling -- a fear that had kept the industry from placing the tiny computer chips -- Radio Frequency Identification tags -- on product packaging, even though the technology has been available for this task for some time, experts told United Press International. The government's initial motivation in making this policy decision, policymakers told reporters earlier this week during a teleconference briefing, was to stop the flow of counterfeit drugs into the United States -- fake bottles of Viagra, some AIDS medications and other drugs that had been making their way from overseas."Bogus medications have become a growing public health threat," acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Lester Crawford, said during the phone briefing. --Wireless World is a weekly series by UPI examining emerging wireless telecommunications technologies. E-mail sciencemail [at] upi.com.