Partnership for Safe Medicines Applauds Senate HELP Committee Vote to Table Harmful Drug Importation Amendment But Remains Concerned About Current Importation Proposals

Washington, DC (June 17, 2022) – Shabbir Safdar, executive director of The Partnership for Safe Medicines, released the following statement today:

“The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions’ 15-7 vote against Senator Sanders’ foreign drug importation amendment to S. 4348, the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Landmark Advancements (FDASLA) Act, is a step in the right direction. The Partnership for Safe Medicines supports Senator Murray’s motion to table the amendment, but remains concerned about the Food and Drug Administration user fee legislation becoming a pathway to introduce dangerous plans that undermine our secure drug supply and put patients at risk of encountering deadly counterfeit medicines.

“Across the globe, criminals who oversee counterfeit drug rings seek to harm Americans. Given this reality, PSM has ongoing concerns about proposals to include various forms of importation in upcoming legislation. The challenges to extraditing Canadian criminals, combined with the volume of global counterfeit criminals that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, shows that securing our supply chain is more important than ever. We should be tightening our supply chain, not loosening it.

“PSM remains committed to protecting the American people from dangerous fake medications and will continue to track the counterfeit pill crisis, which by all accounts is worsening. We urge Congress to reject importation proposals of any kind.”

About the Partnership for Safe Medicines

The Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) is a public health group comprised of non-profit organizations that handle medicine from the factory floor to the patient and are committed to the safety of prescription drugs. To learn more, visit www.safemedicines.org.

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