Judd Gregg: “It is, of course, ironic that in the middle of this debate over how you make safe drugs that Americans are purchasing…”

“It is, of course, ironic that in the middle of this debate over how you make safe drugs that Americans are purchasing, and assure that the FDA has the proper oversight, that the FDA would be issuing this warning. It is a coincidence. The FDA did not do it because we are in the middle of this debate. They did it because they had received the necessary information to fairly well substantiate that at least in three incidents the medication that was purchased was not the medication that was approved by the FDA, even though it was represented as that medication, even though it came in a bottle that looked exactly like that medication, even though it had a tamperproof seal, and it had a label and a date as to when that medication would expire and a lot number. So it certainly looked legitimate. So this just confirms the concern which many of us have that we have to set up a regime where the FDA can properly review what is happening relative to drugs that are being purchased over the Internet, especially. It is not impossible to do that. In fact, it is very doable. That is why I will offer this amendment. The amendment I will offer basically sets up a system whereby the FDA will require that pharmaceutical products sold over the Internet be subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and that they get an FDA seal of approval which is tamper-proof.”