Frederick J. Balboni, Jr., president of Balboni Communications Group, LLC has announced the formation of the Consortium for the Advancement of Patient Safety (CAPS). The mission of the educational consortium is to address the growing issue of medication errors and need for anti-counterfeiting measures, such as printing on secondary closures, to help protect patients. Balboni is the executive director for the Consortium and membership consists of representatives from major pharmaceutical companies.

“The CAPS Consortium was established to ensure pharmaceutical manufacturers have access to all available technologies and methods to mitigate the risks of medication errors,” said Balboni. “Limiting the type of information that can be printed or otherwise displayed on drug packaging could compromise patient safety and thwart efforts to combat drug counterfeiting.”

The United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), an official public standards-setting authority for all prescription and over-the-counter medicines and other health care products manufactured or sold in the United States, has revised USP General Chapter Injections, Labeling on Ferrules and Cap Overseals to limit printing and other types of messaging on drug packages.

When the revision is implemented in May of 2010, printing would be limited to cautionary statements on the top surface of the ferrule or cap overseal of an injectable drug product. The USP defines a cautionary statement as “one intended to prevent an imminent life-threatening situation if the injectable drug is used inappropriately.”

CAPS members believe that limiting the type of information that can be printed or otherwise displayed on vial ferrules and cap overseals could be detrimental to patient safety and to efforts that help combat drug counterfeiting.

Pharmaceuticals manufacturers use the ferrule and cap overseal as a platform for anti-counterfeiting technology, and to display information on dosage, cold chain management and point-of-use administration instructions as a means of preserving patient safety.

The consortium was established by its members to help reduce overall medication errors in the healthcare industry. If you are interested in joining the consortium, please visit www.caps-edu.org.

About CAPS The Consortium for the Advancement of Patient Safety (CAPS) is an educational consortium initiated to educate and promote awareness on the benefits of printing on drug packaging, specifically secondary closures, to mitigate medication errors and improve patient safety.