What 'NABP Accredited Drug Distributor' (Formerly VAWD) Actually Means for Your Pharmacy
Empire Rx Distributors · 5 min read
VAWD became Drug Distributor Accreditation
For years pharmacists asked wholesalers one question: 'Are you VAWD?' The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy renamed the Verified-Accredited Wholesale Distributors program Drug Distributor Accreditation, but the substance is the same: an independent, criteria-based review of a wholesale drug distributor's licensure, operations, policies and facility. If a sales rep says 'VAWD-accredited' today, they mean this program.
What the review covers
Accreditation is not a form you fill out. NABP reviews state licensure in every jurisdiction the distributor operates in, written policies and procedures, personnel and training records, facility security and environmental controls, quarantine and returns handling, recall procedures, and the record-keeping required under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act. An on-site survey confirms the paperwork matches the warehouse.
Why it matters more for a secondary than a primary
Your primary wholesaler is a household name whose compliance program is audited constantly. Your secondary is the supplier you chose yourself, and the accreditation is the fastest way to borrow an independent auditor's judgment instead of relying on a rep's assurance. Several state boards of pharmacy require or recognize the accreditation for out-of-state wholesalers, which is one reason a serious secondary goes through it.
How to verify it yourself in two minutes
Do not rely on a logo on a website or a PDF a rep emails you. Go to NABP's website and search its public accreditation database for the distributor's legal name — for Empire Rx that is ERXD LLC. The listing shows the accreditation type and status. If a wholesaler is not in the database, it is not accredited, whatever the brochure says.
What accreditation does not replace
Accreditation confirms the distributor's systems; it does not replace your own checks on each shipment. You still need DSCSA transaction data with every tote, product from authorized trading partners, dating disclosed before you buy, and a license verification process on the wholesaler's side that would have refused to sell to you if your pharmacy weren't licensed. Accreditation plus those four habits is the whole picture.
Where Empire Rx stands
Empire Rx Distributors (ERXD LLC) is NABP Drug Distributor Accredited, holds a wholesale license or registration in every state we ship to, and attaches T3 data to every order. Our certificate is linked from the footer of every page on this site — verify it against NABP's database before you open an account. We would rather you check than take our word for it.
NABP-accredited wholesale for independent pharmacies.
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