FDA's Failed Foreign Drug Inspection System Must Be Fixed

Press Release

Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on FDA, issued the following statement on today's Government Accountability Office (GAO) testimony before a House Subcommittee on failures on the part of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) foreign drug inspection system which allowed the shipment of contaminated blood thinner drugs from China that are linked to 19 deaths in the U.S.

"Today's GAO testimony is yet another warning that the FDA drug safety system is failing to protect the American public from tainted foreign drugs. As Chair of the FDA Appropriations Subcommittee, I am committed to increasing funding so that FDA can hire more foreign inspectors - something the Bush budget fails to do.

"According to a recent media report, it will take FDA 13 years to inspect every foreign drug plant under the current Bush budget. The American people cannot afford to wait 13 years for the FDA to protect them against contaminated drugs.

"We also must insist on management reforms to fix the agency. Funding alone will not correct missteps at the agency, such as the one that led the FDA to inspect the wrong facility in China at the outset of this crisis.

"We must pursue a parallel track where FDA funding increases are accompanied by serious management reforms. The FDA must be accountable to the American public rather than to the pharmaceutical industry if FDA inspections and approval are to mean something again."

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