NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Washington, DC, United States, 04/24/2008 - The Partnership for Safe Medicines issued a statement regarding today's hearing on the Food and Drug Administration’s ability to enforce safety regulations held by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

The Partnership for Safe Medicines, a group of organizations and individuals dedicated to protect consumers from counterfeit medicines, issued the following statement regarding today's hearing on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) ability to enforce safety regulations held by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

The Partnership for Safe Medicines applauds the Committee for recognizing that the FDA’s ability to safeguard America’s food and drug supplies is being compromised by numerous challenges and obstacles. Unfortunately, this recent case of heparin contamination is just one example of the increasingly global problem of counterfeit drugs sold to an unsuspecting public.

We have seen time and time again that unscrupulous suppliers will not hesitate to use foreign, even toxic, materials in a drug's raw materials if it means more money. And it's easier than ever for counterfeiters to use materials of questionable quality to penetrate the U.S. market since criminals are becoming more organized and inventive

The United States needs to a leader in the global fight against fake drugs. We need to give the FDA all the tools it truly needs to fix the problems, including a dramatic, and sustained, funding increase. We need to work with governments around the world to adopt a tougher stand against the perpetrators of counterfeit medicines that reflects the gravity of their offenses. And we need to send a message to these criminals that we will not tolerate activities to compromise public health.

The Partnership encourages everyone to learn how they can take steps to protect themselves from contraband and potentially counterfeit medicines—because counterfeit drugs are unsafe at any cost.

About the Partnerships for Safe Medicines
The Partnership for Safe Medicines (safemedicines.org) is a group of organizations and individuals that have policies, procedures, or programs to protect consumers from counterfeit or contraband medicines.

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