Barbara Boxer: “I believe this is a good bill that will have a very positive impact on helping to streamline and expedite some of the…”

“I believe this is a good bill that will have a very positive impact on helping to streamline and expedite some of the FDA review processes; and thus, help patients get access to new and promising treatments and devices in a safe, efficient, and expeditious manner. There is no agency within the Federal Government which has as direct or significant an impact on the American people as the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA is responsible for ensuring the foods that we eat are safe, wholesome, sanitary, and properly labeled, that the drugs that we take, and that we give our pets, are safe and effective and that there is a reasonable assurance that the medical devices which we use are safe and effective. I believe the FDA has done, and continues to do, a tremendous job in carrying out this mission--it is internationally recognized as the gold standard for the approval of medical products. The most important aspect of any FDA reform bill must be public safety. We have the safest food, drugs, and medical devices of any country in the world; and nothing we do should ever undermine this-- period.”