Richard Burr: “I know the gentleman remembers well the visits that we had from young and old when we were in the hopes that we could…”

“I know the gentleman remembers well the visits that we had from young and old when we were in the hopes that we could modernize the Food and Drug Administration. I think to many Americans they might have looked at it and said, all that is being accomplished is to have a new version of an old drug on the marketplace and this is a process that will allow that to happen. In fact, it was not. In many cases, the drugs that come through that pipeline today, as we refer to it, are drugs that we have not had anything available to treat that chronic or that terminal illness. Today, as the gentleman and I know, we have a rampant increase in infection, in seniors predominately, but in all Americans; and it does not have anything to do with sterilization. It just has to do with the change in bacteria that goes on as we have treated one strain so long. The need exists in this country for new antibiotics but, more importantly, the need for patients to take all of the drugs that are prescribed for them so that the illness is eliminated totally. We know what happens to a senior when they get halfway through the prescription. They have another month to go. That means going to the drugstore. It means the out-of-pocket cost of another $50 or $60 or $70, and they have had a cold month and the heating oil is higher than they thought, they may say I feel great now, the signs that I went in with are gone, and they do not get that second month of prescription.”