Barcode errors ‘potentially fatal’, warns patient safety commissioner

Barcode errors on medicines “pose critical patient safety risks” and could have “potentially fatal consequences,” Henrietta Hughes has warned.

The Patient Safety Commissioner for England’s warning comes as a petition has been launched by pharmacists report growing problems with barcode data errors and missing 2D barcodes on UK medicine packs.

The issue has been highlighted by several ‘Class 4 medicines defect notifications’ during 2025 that were linked to barcode or labelling problems, including fexofenadine hydrochloride tablets in August 2025, and simvastatin tablets in July 2025.

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Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal (20 November 2025)