Patent ID: 8542099

Claim:
A system for tracking the status and destroying a pharmaceutical product container, wherein said pharmaceutical product container comprises one or more data carriers affixed to said pharmaceutical product container, said one or more data carriers selected from the group consisting of: a radio frequency identification tag, a linear bar code, and a two-dimensional bar code; said system comprising: a) a controlled access portal for receiving said pharmaceutical product container; b) an interrogation zone comprising i) one or more readers for obtaining identification information from the one or more data carriers affixed to said pharmaceutical product container, said one or more readers being selected from the group consisting of: a radio frequency identification reader, and an optical recognition scanner; and ii) components for physically moving the pharmaceutical product container that is contained within the interrogation zone so that the one or more data carriers comes into sufficient proximity to the one or more readers to acquire the identification data from the one or more data carriers; c) one or more destruction devices; d) a transporter for advancing said pharmaceutical product container from said interrogation zone to said one or more destruction devices; e) a controller operatively coupled to said interrogation zone and to said transporter, and f) a sensor; wherein: said controlled access portal is maintained in a closed/no access position after the pharmaceutical product container is placed in said controlled access portal until the pharmaceutical product container is advanced from said interrogation zone to said one or more destruction devices by said transporter; said components for physically moving the pharmaceutical product container that is contained within the interrogation zone are configured to be deactivated after the one or more readers acquire the identification data from the one or more data carriers and before the pharmaceutical product container is advanced from said interrogation zone to said one or more destruction devices by said transporter; said controller is configured to receive said identification information from said interrogation zone and to record the status of said pharmaceutical product container after said pharmaceutical product container is advanced from said interrogation zone to said one or more destruction devices by said transporter; and said sensor being configured to detect an action or condition selected from the group consisting of: said pharmaceutical product container exiting said interrogation zone, said interrogation zone no longer containing said pharmaceutical product container, said transporter advancing said pharmaceutical product container from the interrogation zone to said one or more destruction devices; and waste stream material exiting said one or more destruction devices.