USTR Katherine Tai sat for a two hours-plus hearing with the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday to discuss trade matters and was met early on by some staunch criticism.
Despite spending over $600 billion on prescription drugs, the number of drugs in shortage rose to a near-record total of 301 active medication shortages at the end of 2023.
America’s largest generic drug supplier, Aurobindo, is riddled with safety and quality issues, including ties to overseas suppliers with links to China’s military.
Roughly 40 congressional staff members had a chance to meet with and hear from industry leaders as diverse as Florida farmers to multinational corporations in the renewable energy space about the trials and tribulations of competing with emerging markets that play by different rules. And often break existing ones.
Coalition vice presidents explain the FDAs shortcomings and why U.S. medicines are often in short supply in a new American Affairs Journal article.
The expert witness testimony made it clear that U.S. labs were treated differently than foreign ones, and despite increases in hiring at the FDA over the years, lawmakers have a lot to be concerned about when it comes to the FDA conducting proper oversight of foreign manufacturing facilities.
According to expert testimony given by the witnesses, the crisis is being fueled by poor manufacturing practices that have led to recalls by foreign drug manufacturers, and the race to the bottom on generic drug prices that make it impossible for American generic drug makers to compete with subsidized competitors in India and China.
CPA’s report exposes that “Aurobindo does business with at least four suppliers that have ties to organizations under US sanctions for their connections to China’s military industry.”
In Senate hearing: imported generic drugs facing consistent drug shortages need a government incentive program to help labs make life-saving commodity drugs domestically.
In the wake of the COVID pandemic, consumers have become painfully aware of America’s heavy dependence on imports. The recent Amoxicillin shortage in hospitals has made this particularly clear since the United States is now highly reliant on imported antibiotics and other lifesaving medications. The United States is so deep in the hole when it…
