Thad Cochran: “Americans deserve Continued access to safe and effective drugs which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. A…”

“Americans deserve Continued access to safe and effective drugs which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. A number of recent reports demonstrate that serious problems exist with products from other countries. The New York Times ran a front-page story yesterday about how counterfeit drugs contaminated with an industrial solvent have poisoned hundreds, if not thousands, of people around the world. The toxic syrup has been involved in at least eight mass poisonings around the world in the past two decades, and researchers estimate thousands have died as a result. Most recently an epidemic of contaminated cough syrup was traced back to counterfeit medication from China. The FDA last week issued a warning to U.S. consumers to be especially vigilant because of the risk of the poison reaching the United States. Counterfeit products, those that have been tampered with, or those of unknown origin, should not be brought into this country. The amendment proposed by the Senator from North Dakota will put in jeopardy the process we now have to ensure the safety of prescription medications and protect the health of the American people.”