At Hearing with Commissioner Califf, Senator Murray Emphasizes Importance of Ensuring FDA Lives Up to Critical Mission, Has Resources to Keep Families Safe
"Protecting our families is not just about how strong our military is, it is about how safe our food, or drugs, or medical devices are--not to mention how smooth our supply chains are to ensure families get what they need. There is a direct line between FDA having the resources it needs and the safety of American families. Every time families back in Washington state go to the grocery store, or gather around the dinner table, or fill a prescription, or rely on a medical device, they're really putting their trust in FDA and their experts to uphold the gold standard of safety and effectiveness.
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Let me just say once again--especially in light of recent events--the determination about whether drugs are safe and effective needs to be left to the experts at FDA, not politicians and certainly not judges. We got a stark reminder of this in the recent weeks when, in extreme, poorly reasoned, and dangerous rulings, judges undermined FDA's authority to review and approve drugs by declaring themselves to know better than FDA's experts about medication abortion.
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At the end of last year, as you know, I negotiated and passed the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022, which Senator Collins who just left was a critical part of. It provided new authority to your agency to make sure that cosmetics are safe for the people who use them. The FDA finally, after many years, will know who is making and marketing what products and where, what ingredients are being used, and when there is an adverse event like severe rashes, or hair falling out, or worse. This is the first time, and I'm very excited that you now have the authority to regulate--I can't tell you how many people I've talked to who didn't even know they weren't regulated before. So--very important step--you will now have the power to take products off the shelves if they're not safe. Can you provide us with an update about how you are moving forward with this new authority, and importantly for this committee, what resources you will need to implement them?"
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