IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… Sen. Rick Scott in Real Clear Markets: Americans Deserve to Have Confidence in Their Medicine

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In case you missed it, Senator Rick Scott published an op-ed in Real Clear Markets on his work as chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging with Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand to provide safe, affordable, and reliable drugs for American families. In the piece, Chairman Scott highlights the facts of their investigation into generic drugs and emphasizes the need to develop alternatives to the current system, which is dangerously reliant on international suppliers, including those in Communist China and other underregulated markets that lack transparency and accountability. Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Gillibrand are working to address these concerns by introducing their CLEAR Labels Act to inject transparency into the system and empower Americans to make the best decisions for their families.

In the op-ed, Senator Rick Scott writes,"Generics make cost-effective, lifesaving medicine readily available for every American. Families deserve to know their generic drugs are safe, so they can make a choice about what's best for them - even one instance that proves otherwise is one too many.

'…most of our generic drug supply comes from overseas, produced in underregulated markets and in factories with far less oversight than those in the United States, and the danger of our overreliance on foreign-made medicines and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) from India and Communist China cannot be overstated.

…

'Even now, Communist China - a self-declared enemy of the U.S. - has banned exporting rare earth minerals to the U.S. as retaliation for basic policy decisions. It is not out of the realm of possibility that Xi and his thugs could extend that ban to APIs or specific medicines in an attempt to bring our country to the negotiating table, or to its knees. We can't wait for them to do so before we ramp up domestic manufacturing of these life-saving drugs.

…

'When faced with shortages, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been known to allow imports of drugs from foreign factories flagged for quality and safety concerns. Patients and doctors are not told when those exemptions are made - they just have to trust and be grateful to have any drugs at all.

…

'Several reports also show that relying on foreign-manufactured drugs results in higher rates of serious adverse events - like hospitalization and death - than drugs made in and with ingredients from the U.S.

…

'Just recently, we saw a recall of Indian-made cholesterol drugs due to manufacturing defects. While this issue was caught, not all of them are. The FDA is still dealing with an inspection backlog from COVID, and when a former FDA inspector testified before our committee, he described significant hurdles that slow overseas inspections. He also testified to horrifyingly unsanitary conditions at some of these factories, including water dripping from pipes and cats roaming the floors, and how factories exploit loopholes to shift production without fixing these issues.

…

'This issue won't be solved overnight, but we are working to find bipartisan, commonsense solutions that keep drugs safe, affordable, and accessible. Our CLEAR Labels Act is a first step in the right direction.

...

'This is just the start. I plan to keep working with experts across the political spectrum and around the country to address this threat and ensure Americans never have to worry about getting affordable, safe medicines when they need them."

Read the full piece in Real Clear Markets HERE.

###