Georgia U.S. Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) recently led a group of congressional lawmakers in sending a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra calling on the department to “prioritize American-made pharmaceuticals in the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).”
“Our SNS is far too dependent on foreign countries for medication, supplies, and more, especially China and India. If one of these foreign countries were to cut off the supply of drugs or active pharmaceutical ingredients, American lives could hang in the balance,” the lawmakers wrote to Becerra.
“As Americans continue to face drug shortages, including shortages of lifesaving antibiotics like Amoxicillin…Prioritizing American made manufacturing of essential medicines will be a lifesaving practice for the United States,” the lawmakers added.
“It wasn’t until the COVID pandemic that Americans saw firsthand the supply chain vulnerabilities that come from our nation’s heavy reliance on imports,” the group noted. “Hospitals suddenly ran short of face masks, medical gloves, and critical medicines such as antibiotics and antivirals. The situation got even worse after China and other countries banned exports of essential pharmaceuticals in order to maintain supplies at home.”
“As a result, we strongly urge you to prioritize the use of federal taxpayer dollars for the procurement and distribution of American domiciled pharmaceutical manufacturing for medical countermeasures that meet high-quality standards from established, proven, and vetted suppliers in future purchases,” the lawmakers added.
Carter (pictured above) also recently appeared on Fox Business to discuss his letter to Becerra, where he noted, “The active pharmaceutical ingredients, that’s the key. Even though a drug may be made here in America, in order to make that drug you’ve got to have the active pharmaceutical ingredients, and much of that comes from China.”
There are 138 drug shortages currently reported by manufacturers, according to data compiled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“Drug Shortages can occur for many reasons, including manufacturing and quality problems, delays, and discontinuations,” the FDA writes on its website.
In addition, according to FDA data from August 2019, only 28 percent of the manufacturing facilities producing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to supply the U.S. market were in the country. The remaining 72 percent of the API manufacturers supplying the U.S. market were overseas, with 13 percent located in China.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network.
Photo “Buddy Carter” by Congressman Buddy Carter.
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