Reports
A New Direction for American Families: Safer Toys, Safer Foods, Safer Medicine
10/30/2007
The New Direction Congress is responding to reports that American families and children are at risk because of lead paint in imported toys, recalls in faulty products, unsafe food, and questionable medicines. We are making certain that families have safe drugs, safe toys, safe food, by: |
Enacting the most sweeping drug safety legislation in decades. According to Consumers Union, under the law, the FDA “will begin to have the tools and resources to protect the public from unsafe medications.” | |
Ensuring that parents have confidence when they purchase toys or products for their children. In the coming weeks, the House will take action on wide-ranging toy and child product safety legislation, the Comprehensive Consumer Product Safety Bill, to: | |
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Improving the safety of imported food and drugs, to: | |
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TOY AND CHILD PRODUCT SAFETY
Over the summer, more than 20 million toys manufactured in China were recalled because of various hazards. USA Today recently described the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which is charged with regulating children’s toys, as “tragically ineffective.” The agency has lost 15 percent of its workforce since 2004 and employs only 420 people. Even the Commission’s acting Director Nancy Nord has complained that there is only one “lonely” toy tester. [WSJ, 9/13/07] The 110th Congress is committed to ensuring that the products our children use are safe and reliable: |
OVERSIGHT & FINDINGS: | |
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection has held a number of hearings addressing the issue of children’s product safety, including on protecting children from lead-tainted imports. | |
Mattel CEO Bob Eckert told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection that some of the 20.5 million toys recalled by his company this year contained nearly 200 times the legal amount of lead. [CNN, 8/15/07; CNN, 9/20/07] | |
The House Ways and Means Trade and Oversight Subcommittees held a joint hearing on October 4th, on the ability of the federal regulators to identify and take action to prohibit the import of unsafe food and consumer products. | |
Recent recalls of tainted pet food, toothpaste, and antibiotic-laden seafood have shaken Americans’ confidence in the safety of the consumer goods on the shelves of our retail stores. | |
LEGISLATION THAT HAS ALREADY PASSED THE HOUSE IN RECENT MONTHS: | |
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FOOD SAFETY
Recalls this past year ranging from bagged spinach and peanut butter to contaminated wheat flour from China have brought a measure of fear to the kitchen table. Less than 1 percent of our food imports are inspected currently—ten times less than in the 1970s—and an even smaller percentage undergoes actual testing. The 110th Congress is committed to bringing accountability and responsibility back to the food safety system: |
OVERSIGHT & FINDINGS: | |
The House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee has held hearings focused on food safety for people and pets. | |
Dr. David Kessler, dean of University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, testified about our “broken” food safety system. Dr. Kessler testified: “We have no structure for preventing food-borne illness in this country. The reality is that there is currently no mandate, no leadership, no resources, nor scientific research base for prevention of food safety problems.” [Testimony, 5/2/07] | |
The House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee has also held hearings on food safety issues this year. | |
At an Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee hearing, “former FDA officials blamed the agency's middle and upper management for its unwillingness to change. Benjamin England, a former regulatory counsel and 17-year veteran at the FDA, said the agency failed to act on more than 100 proposals for change, and he described the current food-import system as outdated, inadequate and wasteful.” [Wall Street Journal, 9/26/07] | |
The House Homeland Security Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology Subcommittee held a hearing on July 24th to investigate the federal government’s efforts to protect the food supply chain. | |
LEGISLATION THAT HAS ALREADY PASSED THE HOUSE IN RECENT MONTHS: | |
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DRUG SAFETY
Recent setbacks in drug safety have left American consumers with less confidence in the medications they take themselves and provide their families. Just this month, 14 different types of infant cold medication (for children under 2 years old) were pulled off the shelves due to health concerns, side effects and other dangers to children. Fourteen nonprofit health care and patient advocacy groups recently lauded the new law, the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007, as “an essential and significant first step toward restoring the safety of U.S. patients and consumers and reestablishing the FDA’s authority, commitment and credibility to protect the public health.” The 110th Congress is committed to ensuring the safety of drugs and medicines: |
OVERSIGHT & FINDINGS: | |
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing on Avandia, a diabetes drug taken by more than 1 million Americans, about which new safety concerns have just been raised. | |
Dr. John B. Buse, a medical researcher, testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that a top officer with SmithKlineBeecham, now GlaxoSmithKline, called him a “liar” and threatened him with a lawsuit after Dr. Buse questioned the safety of the diabetes drug Avandia and pointed to evidence of increased risk of heart attack and chest pain back in 1999. [New York Times, 6/7/07] | |
The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee has held several hearings focusing on prescription drug and medical device safety issues, including on pediatric medicines. | |
LEGISLATION THAT HAS ALREADY PASSED THE HOUSE IN RECENT MONTHS: | |
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