Lilly's Individual Insulin Vials to Get Bar Codes

Eli Lilly is placing bar codes on individual vials of nine of its insulin products to ensure accurate dispensing to hospitalized patients, the company announced. The Indianapolis-based company had been including bar codes only on outer insulin packaging.

A February 2004 FDA regulation requires bar codes by early 2006 on most prescription drugs and on OTC drugs commonly dispensed in hospitals to reduce medication errors. Lilly's coded insulin products include Humulin (insulin recombinant human) and Humalog (insulin lispro recombinant), the company said.

"Lilly is currently working on implementing bar coding on insulin pens and cartridges, but this is a much more difficult task given the smaller diameter and limited surface area of these items," Jamaison Schuler, of Lilly product communications, said. "Also currently under way are bar-coding efforts on other Lilly products in vials, pens and cartridges, such as Forteo [teriparatide recombinant human] and ReoPro [abciximab]."

Bar codes are also printed on bottles, blister packs and cartons of Lilly's "dry products," such as Strattera (atomoxetine HCl), Cymbalta (duloxetine hydrochloride), Zyprexa (olanzapine) and Cialis (tadalafil), Schuler said. Lilly hasn't established a timeline for further bar coding, but the company plans to meet the FDA's April 2006 deadline.

For details on the FDA's bar-code regulation, go to http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/04-4249.htm (http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/04-4249.htm).