A bill that would require cradle-to-grave drug tracking in California has sparked extensive debate in the state, with critics contending that the new requirements could impose tens of millions in new costs on pharmacies annually. Drugmakers including Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Teva Pharmaceuticals, along with pharmacy chain Rite-Aid, have all voiced opposition to the bill--and drugmakers have asked to be excluded from its requirements

The bill would require providers and pharmacies to track drugs with electronic technology or bar codes from when they are manufactured from when they are sold in a pharmacy. The concept, known as "e-pedigree," was originally sponsored by the California Board of Pharmacy. Now, Board's parent agency, the Consumer Services Agency, actually opposes the bill as it is currently written. The CSA wants to see it amended to delay the deadline for deploying e-pedigree technologies from 2011 to 2015.

Vendors are clearly ready to support this approach, however. For example, IBM announced a offering last year allowing pharmaceutical companies to create electronic certificates of authenticity (the basis for e-pedigree approaches) as part of its WebSphere RFID Information Center, a data repository allowing users to manage and share information with trading partners.

To learn more about this bill:
- read this iHealthBeat item