Gilbert Gutknecht: “In fact, in this ad it says, look how easy Congress has made it for you to save. That is what it says. Congress has…”

“In fact, in this ad it says, look how easy Congress has made it for you to save. That is what it says. Congress has spoken. Unfortunately we, put this language into that bill, in the conference committee and at somebody's request that says as long as they can guarantee safety. Well, they cannot guarantee safety on imported strawberries or pork bellies or plantains. We import hundreds and thousands of tons of broccoli a year. They cannot guarantee the safety. According to the FDA's own studies, 2 percent of the fruits and vegetables coming into this country are contaminated with food-borne pathogens, including things like salmonella. Salmonella can kill you. It does kill Americans. Yet what does the FDA do about that? Nothing. But if you try to save $45 on a box of Coumadin, they will come after you like stink on a skunk. There is something wrong with the system. We need to fix it. It is not so much shame on the pharmaceutical industry. It is shame on us. It is time that we make certain that Americans have access to world-class drugs at world market prices. That is what we want. That is what we expect. We will not stop until we get it.”