Chairman Rick Scott Issues Warning to American Families: Your Medicine Cabinets Could be Unsafe

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Rick Scott issued a warning to aging Americans about the risks of relying on foreign-manufactured, generic drugs. This follows the investigative report and hearings led by Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand on America's dangerous overreliance on foreign-made generic drugs, which are largely imported from India and China.

Chairman Scott has been working alongside Ranking Member Gillibrand to sound the alarm on the risks this poses to every American family, including seniors. These efforts include letters to Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, major U.S. pharmacies, FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., pharmaceutical distributor executives, and group purchasing organizations, as well as an investigative report exposing the United States' overreliance on foreign-made generics. The committee's recent hearings on September 17, October 8, and November 19 similarly explored the threats posed by foreign dependence and identified solutions to expand domestic manufacturing and ensure Americans' access to safe, high-quality medicines.

Chairman Rick Scott said, "Every American relying on foreign-manufactured generic drugs deserves to know the risks in their medicine cabinet. As chair of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, I'm leading a bipartisan effort to expose the truth. Right now, roughly 80% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients in these drugs come from India and Communist China, many of which are made in unsafe, unsanitary conditions in facilities that are far too infrequently inspected. These drugs can pose serious health risks to YOU, with some instances linked to injury or death. America's reliance on foreign-made generic drugs isn't just a public health threat, it's a national security risk because the Chinese Communist Party could cut off the supply at any moment, leaving our seniors, military members, and every American without the medicines they need.

"Americans should not be forced to roll the dice with the safety, supply, or availability of their medicine. While more unannounced inspections are being done, the FDA still conducts far fewer inspections of foreign manufacturers' facilities than it does in the United States and even grants foreign manufacturers violation waivers to avoid disrupting the supply chain. This is a threat to our national security and personal safety that must change NOW. We must act TODAY to bring manufacturing back to America, increase oversight of foreign manufacturers, require proper labeling of country of origin, and ensure our supply chains are secure, so our seniors and every family can finally trust the medicine in their cabinet."

For highlights and recommendations from the recent investigative report exposing the United States' overreliance and potential solutions, see below. Read the full report HERE or by clicking the image below.

Highlights:

• The U.S. manufactured 37% of its consumed pharmaceuticals in 2024, a stark decline from 2002 when that figure was at 83%.
• China accounts for 95% of U.S. imports of ibuprofen, 70% of U.S. imports of acetaminophen, and upwards of 45% of U.S. imports of penicillin.
• Approximately 90% of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) for global antibiotics are of Chinese origin, and 83% of the top 100 generic drugs consumed by U.S. citizens have no U.S.-based source of APIs.
• While India supplies approximately 50% of all generic drugs used in the U.S., Indian manufacturers rely heavily on China for approximately 80% of the APIs that they use.
• According to a 2025 study, the occurrence of serious adverse events for generic drugs manufactured in India was 54% higher than for equivalent drugs that were manufactured in the United States. Adverse events were hospitalization, disability, and death.

Solutions:

• Establish a federal buyer's market for essential medicines, prioritizing American made products first, and prioritizing near- and friend-shoring if American made products are not available;
• Map our generic drug supply chains;
• Require companies to disclose country of origin for pharmaceuticals;
• Utilize trade levers like the administration's 232 investigation authority;
• Pass clarifying language to close loopholes that allow foreign-made products to be categorized as 'Made in America;' and
• Support U.S. biotechnology.

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