Tamper Evidence

Richard Burhouse, business development manager for Payne Security (www.payne-security.com), reports that “secure packaging is an important factor in combatting fake products. But in addition to manufacturing fake drugs, counterfeiters are seeking to infiltrate the legitimate supply chain. They are attempting to steal authentic shipments and redirect them to other markets, reselling them for their own profit.”

On its Web site, FDA lists several “opportunities for collaboration” under its Safe Use Initiative. These include potential changes to consumer medication information, over-the-counter drug dosing tools, and medication in vials, among other issues. But after several recent instances of drug tampering by healthcare workers, I’d like to suggest another opportunity: wider use of tamper-evident packaging or labeling for prescription drugs.

To secure sample packages of its erectile dysfunction drug Levitra, Bayer Healthcare sought a tamper-evident closure seal. Bayer needed a seal that could indicate that the package had been opened yet also allow users to reclose the package several times. The opening proof must be clearly visible to the doctor and patient, and it needed to be destructively detachable from the substrate. Finally, Bayer wanted a closure seal that would be easy for users to handle.