FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: Margaret Wicker
May 7, 2007	(202)224-6414

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) offered the following statement today in response to Senate approval of his amendment to ensure the safety of drugs imported into the United States. 

“The Senate has taken an important step today in ensuring that the American people not only have access to the drugs they need but also to affordable and safe drugs.  Today a majority of Senators have agreed that it is a matter of common sense to make certain that any change we make to the law does not result in less protection in terms of the safety of the drugs supplied to the American people and will indeed make prescription drugs more affordable. Liberalization of protections that are designed to keep unsafe drugs out of this country, especially considering the terrorist threats we face now, should occur only if necessary safeguards are in place.  

“The amendment proposed by the Senator from North Dakota would have put in jeopardy the process we now have to ensure the safety of prescription medications and protect the health of the American people. My amendment requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to certify that the importation of drug products will not pose additional risks to Americans and will, indeed, lower costs to consumers, and I am pleased that the Senate has approved the amendment.   

“Improving the health and quality of life for Americans is very important to all of us. Access to safe and effective prescription drugs is a major step in accomplishing these goals. With recent scientific advances, a number of medical therapies have been made available to treat, and in some cases to cure, diseases. We want Americans to continue to have access to safe and effective drugs that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but we must not create opportunities for potentially dangerous drug products from foreign countries to reach the American consumer.  Counterfeit products -- those that have been tampered with or those of unknown origin -- should not be brought into this country.

 “The safety of the American consumer must be our number one priority. I am pleased that safeguards have now been applied to the drug importation proposal that has been attached to the Food and Drug Administration authorization bill.”