Unsafe Drugs: FDA vows to protect the American Consumer
The Principal Deputy Commissioner of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today reaffirmed his agency’s commitment to protect the American people from unsafe or dangerous drugs. In his report to the House Subcommittee on Health Committee on Energy and Commerce, Dr Sharfstein announced that the FDA was seeking better controls to combat the threat of contamination and counterfeit drugs manufactured developing world. Dr Sharfstein explained to the House that the FDA was working close with foreign governments to ensure adherence to international standards and that the FDA had opened a number of field offices in China, India, Mexico, Costa Rica and Chile. Current estimates indicate that up to 40 percent of drugs used in the United States are imported and that 80 percent contain active ingredients made overseas. Between 2007-2008 hundreds of people died in the United States as a result of a contaminated supply of the blood thinner Heparin, manufactured in China.
