NACDS, NCPA, GPhA express support for Drug Quality and Security Act
WASHINGTON — A bill designed to strengthen the security of the drug supply chain by creating an electronic track-and-trace system and national standards for sterile pharmacy compounding has attracted support from trade groups representing retail pharmacies and generic drug makers.
In letters to legislators Friday, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the National Community Pharmacists Association and the Generic Pharmaceutical Association expressed support for the Drug Quality and Security Act, which would tie together "patchwork" state-level prescription drug supply chain laws under one federal law.
In its letter, addressed to members of both houses of Congress, the NACDS touted the contributions that chain pharmacy retailers have made to strengthening the pharmaceutical supply chain.
“We believe [the agreement] will help guarantee patient safety through a more secure supply chain and appropriate and improved oversight of compounding activities,” the NACDS letter read. “We believe that the reforms contained within the legislation meet the overarching goal of protecting patients while allowing chain pharmacies to operate effectively and efficiently in dispensing needed medications.”
"As you know, the current patchwork of State prescription drug supply chain laws has left our nation's pharmaceutical supply vulnerable to the entry of counterfeit and adulterated prescription drugs, which threaten the health of patients and the integrity of our industry," GPhA president and CEO Ralph Neas wrote in a letter to members of the House and Senate. "That is why GPhA has worked with Congress to enact a single, uniform, and national pharmaceutical distribution supply chain law."
Meanwhile, the NCPA highlighted the law's goals of improving the safety of pharmacy compounding.
"This compromise proposal provides a balanced and effective approach to address critical and complex issues surrounding compounded medications, as well as strengthening our nation's pharmaceutical supply chain," NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey wrote in a letter to members of the Senate.