FDA says rules on prescription drug tracking will take effect in December News
FDA says rules on prescription drug tracking will take effect in December

[JURIST] The US Food and Drug Administration [official website] said Friday that new rules [press release] requiring wholesalers to be able to track prescription drugs will take effect in December. The rules stem from the Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1987 [summary], a law aimed at combating drug counterfeiting [FDA backgrounder]. The FDA has so far been unable to fully enforce this law due to a lack of practical means to do so. Certain regulations requiring distributors to document the "pedigree" of drug products [draft compliance policy guide] had been delayed due to a concern about their impact on small wholesalers, but in a report [text] Friday, the FDA said that "it can no longer justify not implementing these regulations." The advent of radio frequency identification tags technology (RFID) [Wikipedia backgrounder] now allows wholesalers to more effectively and efficiently track individual bottles.

According to the World Health Organization [official website], counterfeiting involves between 8 and 10 percent of all drugs sold. FDA acting Commissioner Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach [official profile] has said that the use of RFID tags will help to reduce the risk that these counterfeit drugs will enter the US market. The New York Times has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.