Food and Drug Administration Reform Act

Floor Speech

Mr. CARNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Food and Drug Administration Reform Act and, in particular, the provisions it contains to address critical drug shortages. Across the country, patients are not getting critical medications they need to battle diseases and stay healthy. This crisis is hitting cancer patients especially hard, with serious shortages of chemotherapy drugs.

In response to this crisis, I introduced the Drug Shortage Prevention Act with my colleague, Representative Larry Bucshon. I'm pleased that key provisions of this bill are included in the legislation that the House passed last night. These provisions help FDA and the DEA fix some of the regulatory problems that are causing these shortages.

This is not a partisan issue. Drug shortages affect all of us. I'm pleased that the Senate passed its own version of this legislation last week, and I'm hopeful that both Chambers can quickly come together to present a final package for the President's signature.

When a family gets hit with a diagnosis like cancer, they have enough things to worry about. Running out of chemotherapy drugs should not be one of them.

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