If you have hung around the Medical Quack long enough then you know I have had a little campaign on here for about 3 years now about using bar codes to find FDA recalls, whether it be prescriptions drugs, over the counter and medical devices. It’s the same old story that they can’t come to an agreement on how to create the system so nothing gets done. Did anyone think about bringing some data engineers to help with the building process or even a company like Microsoft who has the technology and has a patent for labels that can’t be compromised? Duh? Duh? Duh? 
Let me start off here and repeat this important article about how a man died as he was implanted with a device that had been recalled, except it was missed and not pulled from the inventory…sad story. I realize that some of the bigger hospitals have some RFID systems in place but what about smaller hospitals, surgical centers and doctors offices that do some procedures? Duh?
Micro-Cap FDA Recalls Never End
Here’s a screenshot of the patent that can make labels tamper proof too.
Microsoft Receives Patent-Techniques to Create Counterfeit and Tamper Resistant Labels Using Fiber Optic Strands-Bar Codes Getting Closer for Drug/Device Recalls?
What is interesting is to see the alcohol beverage industry jump in to this so you can read about the vodka you are about to digest but for something that could potentially have a deadly or bad side effect…nothing.
Skyy Vodka Using Microsoft Tags-We Can Find Out More About What We are Drinking-Would Be Nice if Tylenol & Others Did This
This is really the “shitty” deal for consumers as when you look at how mHealth and other mobile technologies are moving to where the phone is your best ally at times, to not have this in the “developed” country that we are is a shame.
More Birth Control Pill Recalls–Patient Found This Error with Pills in Bubble Pack in Reverse Order–The “Shitty Deal” With No Bar Codes to Make Them Easier to Find…
The nice folks over at the Journal Sentinel even took some time to interview me on the topic while the big Triad mess was ongoing with contaminated wipes and not too long after that I saw a “tiny” attempt from J and J with using barcodes on their wipes. You can see the bar code in the image below. Those can be easily changed with content in case of a recall too from giving general product information as an example. Here’s a “tech tweeting on the topic below.
"It's alarming," said Mary Ann Beaumont, a Milwaukee resident who had a package of recalled swabs at home and only learned of the contamination months after the recall when she read a story in the Journal Sentinel in June.
”
Johnson and Johnson Puts Microsoft Tag Bar Codes on Baby Wipes But Can’t Do the Same to Give Consumers the Chance to Find Their FDA Recalls - BarCode Baby Steps?
Long and short of it, digital illiterates in Congress that couldn’t agree on this portion of the bill as they probably don’t use their phones to scan bar codes but a hell of a lot of other folks do. What’s even more incredible too is to use a heat map to find the location of either recalled or stolen drugs once they are scanned too…oh well I gave my best to promote this to the “deaf” ears of our lawmakers. Sad thing too is that when you look at the vote, it’s a huge bi-partisan in agreement, but they left out the real meat and potatoes that would help consumers. BD
WASHINGTON — A bill designed to beef up the safety
of the nation’s prescription drug supply is poised to pass Congress, but without a tracking system that public health advocates say is critical to weeding out counterfeit pharmaceuticals. House and Senate lawmakers agreed late Monday on compromise legislation that helps supplement the Food and Drug Administration’s budget. The two chambers previously passed separate versions of the bill, which also increases safety inspections and penalties against drug counterfeiters.
The House is expected to vote on the compromise FDA legislation Wednesday afternoon. Lawmakers there previously passed the bill by an overwhelming 387-5 vote. A vote in the Senate is expected early next week.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/drug-tracking-system-dropped-from-fda-bill-aimed-at-bolstering-pharmaceutical-safety/2012/06/19/gJQATMqDoV_story.html
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