FDA, companies test RFID tracking to prevent drug counterfeiting.

The U.S. has an apparently growing problem with fake, counterfeit drugs entering the mainstream drug supply, and being fraudulently sold at full price in regular pharmacies and hospitals; some have no active ingredient, or too little, or substitute a cheap drug for an expensive one. The FDA has asked drug manufacturers to develop technology to track all shipments electronically as they move through the distribution chain; currently, RFID (radio frequency identification) is the preferred method for doing so. This article explains what is happening, and why we do not believe that this use of RFID is a privacy threat--though other privacy issues are among the most important questions we face today.