FDA can’t ensure safety of medicine imports

FDA can’t ensure safety of medicine imports    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Congress that opening the country’s borders to medicine imports would overwhelm the agency’s field staff, threatening the health and safety of American consumers.
   “Evidence strongly suggests that the volume of these foreign drug importations is increasing steadily and presents a substantial challenge for the agency to adequately assess and process these parcels, resulting in an increased workload for agency field personnel at ports of entry, mail facilities and international courier hubs,” said FDA associate commissioner for regulatory affairs John M. Taylor III in testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee late last week.
   Legislation pending in Congress would allow Americans to buy their medicines from other countries at lower prices.
   “Unfortunately, the drug supply is under unprecedented attack from a variety of increasingly sophisticated threats,” Taylor said. “FDA has seen its number of counterfeit drug investigations increase four-fold since the late 1990s.”
   Taylor criticized the proposed drug import legislation for its failure to provide FDA with sufficient manpower and resources to regulate the distribution of incoming foreign-manufactured medicines.