ENZI: DORGAN IMPORTATION AMENDMENT IS WRONG MEDICINE; PUTS DRUG SAFETY REFORM BILL AT RISK

Washington D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-WY, Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP Committee), said the Senate’s vote clearing the way to allow drug importation as part of “The Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act,” has put needed safety reforms protect consumers and their families in jeopardy. Earlier today, the Senate agreed, by a vote of 63 to 28, to bring the amendment allowing widespread drug importation to a final vote. “Today’s vote, which has set the stage for adopting the Dorgan Amendment, is the wrong medicine for what ails our drug safety system,” Enzi said. “Half of all Americans take at least one prescription drug daily, and we need to restore their faith in the ability of the FDA to ensure that the drugs they take are safe and effective. The Dorgan amendment, if adopted as part of the drug safety bill, will throw open our borders to drugs that have much higher risks.” Enzi said the amendment would not establish sufficient mechanisms to ensure that imported drugs are safe and beneficial, putting Americans at a much greater risk of taking counterfeit or tainted drugs.“We’ve come too far and made too much progress in reaching a bipartisan drug safety bill to allow this dangerous loophole in at the last minute,” he said. “We all want affordable drugs. But a counterfeit or tainted drug is unsafe at any price.” “This amendment will put patient lives at risk, and that is a compromise I am unwilling to make. I urge my colleagues to oppose it,” Enzi said. “The Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act must be about restoring the trust of the American people in the FDA.” ####