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Article: FDA wants bar codes on all pharmaceuticals. (Industry News).(Food and Drug Administration proposes law requiring bar codes on biological products, drugs)
- Article from:
- Label & Narrow Web
- Article date:
- April 1, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Rodman Publishing. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a regulation mandating the use of bar codes on drugs and biological products. If adopted, the rule would require hospitals to use scanners and bar codes in an effort to reduce medical error.
A recent report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that 770,000 people are injured or die each year in hospitals as a result of adverse drug events. The report also suggested that computerized monitoring systems could reduce these events by 28 to 95 percent.
Only 35 percent of hospital medications currently have bar codes. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that pharmaceutical companies ...