Is Drug Safety in the U.S. Moving in the Right Direction?

May 14, 2009

Protecting the public’s health is an important part of the part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) job. And on May 7, the FDA proposed several measures that would allow the agency to better regulate the safety of Americans’ food and medical products. The FDA request for the President’s fiscal year 2010 budget asks for $3.2 billion to protect and promote public health. This figure, which is a 19 percent increase from the current FDA fiscal year budget, is a significant step towards the direction of a safer pharmaceutical supply chain.

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Drug Importation: Small Savings at a Large Cost

April 2, 2009

Supporters of drug importation like to cite the statistic that if the United States were to permit drug importation, it would reduce total drug spending by $40 billion over 10 years. This figure is from the 2004 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issue brief on drug importation.

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The Last Line of Defense Against Counterfeit Drugs

March 19, 2009

Recently, there has been talk in our nation’s Capitol about overhauling the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) presence both in the United States and abroad. This is an important step in improving the safety of prescription medications from the global public health threat of counterfeit drugs and the untold harm they cause unsuspecting consumers. But, with limited budget and resources, will the FDA be able to pull off the task?

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Consumer Protection Group Opposes Drug Importation Bill

March 5, 2009

Partnership for Safe Medicines speaks clearly about the dangers of importing prescription drugs from Canada in its statement regarding the proposed “Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act” sponsored by Senators Dorgan (D-ND), Snowe (R-ME), McCain (R-AZ) and Stabenow (D-MI), which would allow for prescription drug importation.

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