The Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) was passed by Congress in 2013 to improve the security and safety of pharmaceutical products as they move through the supply chain. It makes trackable and verifiable each step of the manufacturing process – from production, to wholesale, to distribution and sale to patients.
While the DSCSA has been gradually enacted over 10 years since 2013 – with completion slated for November 2023 – many prescription drug supply chain partners (e.g., manufacturers, wholesalers) are not yet ready for the final phase. That phase involves systems tracing prescription medications’ journey at each stop in the supply chain.
As it stands, if a supply chain partner cannot comply with the final phase, the Act is designed to prohibit pharmacies from purchasing medications from these partners, which could lead to many medications not being available to patients.
NOTABLE STATS
More than two-thirds of adults (71%) support track and trace efforts to verify the authenticity and safety of pharmaceutical products.
Majorities of adults support the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) extending the final phase of DSCSA implementation (57%) to allow more time for compliance with the final phase of the Act’s provisions, and support Congress doing so (56%) if the FDA were to fail to act.
Fewer than one-in-five adults (18% for both scenarios) oppose both of those proposals, pointing to strong net support for extension overall. Around one-quarter of adults don’t know/don’t have an opinion on support or opposition for both proposals.
Those whose households have experienced shortages in medicines and health products in the past year are even more likely to support an extension – with seven-in-ten supporting an extension by the FDA (70%) or by Congress if the FDA were to fail to act. (71%).
Among those who support track and trace efforts, 72% support the FDA extending the final phase of DSCSA implementation.
In the final “ask” of the support/opposition question, after exposure to messaging, support for the FDA extending the final phase of implementation rises to 64%, with only 16% of adults in opposition to the extension.
In this final “ask,” 73% of those whose households have experienced shortages in medicines and health products in the past year support an extension by the FDA, and 77% of those who support track and trace efforts support an extension by the FDA.
This poll was conducted by Morning Consult and commissioned by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores between August 3-August 5, 2023, among a sample of 2,201 adults. The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of adults based on age, gender, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age, and race by educational attainment. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
