Pharmacy Boards Move to Accredit Drug Wholesalers

In a fresh initiative designed toreduce the threat posed by counterfeitprescription drugs, officials at theNational Association of Boards of Pharmacy(NABP) announced plans toestablish a new program that willaccredit wholesale drug distributorswho supply US pharmacies.

NABP's new "Verified-AccreditedWholesale Distributors (VAWD)" programis designed to assure pharmaciesand others concerned about counterfeitdrugs "that wholesalers are legitimate,qualified for state licensure, andemploying security and best practicesfor safely distributing prescriptiondrugs and medical devices from manufacturerto pharmacy," officials fromthe association said.

Wholesalers seeking VAWD accreditationwill undergo a criteria compliancereview, licensure verificationprocess, an inspection, and screening.BuzzeoPDMA, a consulting firm thatspecializes in compliance with federaldrug regulations, will perform inspectionsof distributors for NABP.

NABP, which operates a similaraccreditation system for Internet pharmacies,expects to launch the newdrug distributor verification programin December 2004.