Gilbert Gutknecht: “The problem with the FDA is not that they do not have the power to inspect; it is that they spend all of their time…”

“The problem with the FDA is not that they do not have the power to inspect; it is that they spend all of their time chasing legal drugs and law-abiding citizens. They are focusing on the wrong end. Last year, for example, instead of stopping illegal drugs imported by illicit traffickers, some of the people the gentleman heard testimony about, what they have done is spent most of their effort going after approved drugs with law-abiding citizens. Last year the FDA detained 18 times more packages coming in from Canada than from Mexico. We do not have a problem with Canada. We know a lot about the pharmacies in Canada. They have strong and stringent regulations in Canada. So why is the FDA detaining 90 times more packages from Canada? This was last year. Last year the FDA detained 90 times more packages from Canada than from Mexico. They are chasing law-abiding citizens bringing legal drugs in. What they need to do is focus on the traffic that the gentleman was talking about, where you have adulterated drugs, where you have got illegal drugs, where you have got all kinds of mischief going on.”