U.S. Senator Katie Britt, R-Ala., on Tuesday joined Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Aging respectively, along with Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., in introducing the bipartisan Consumer Labeling for Enhanced API Reporting and Legitimate Accountability for Base Entity Listings, CLEAR LABELS, Act. The bill would add country of origin labeling requirements to the U.S.’s prescription drug supply chain.
“Patients deserve transparency to make informed health care decisions. If someone is taking drugs from China and other foreign adversaries, they deserve to know,” said Sen. Britt. “That’s why I am proud to support the CLEAR LABELS Act to help restore faith in the quality, safety, and reliability of the medications Americans depend on.”
Many prescription drugs, and their active pharmaceutical ingredients, APIs, are manufactured overseas, particularly in China and India. Though current federal labeling requirements do not require public disclosure of where those ingredients or finished products are made. As a result, patients, pharmacists and health care providers lack the upfront visibility into the origins of their medications, according to Britt’s press release.
“As parents and grandparents, we do everything we can to make informed, safe decisions that keep our families safe and healthy. But right now, families are being kept in the dark about where their drugs are coming from. America’s drug supply is dependent on our enemies like China and countries such as India to manufacture our drugs and ingredients, often with limited transparency and oversight. This broken process leaves patients in the dark about where their drugs come. Families deserve to have confidence that the medicines they take are safe, regulated, and clearly labeled,” said Sen. Scott. “That’s why I’m leading the bipartisan CLEAR LABELS Act with Ranking Member Gillibrand to add country of origin labels to your medicines and help ensure every American can feel comfortable knowing what’s in their medicine cabinet.”
The CLEAR LABELS Act would require prescription drug labels to disclose the original manufacturers of prescription drugs and APIs to ensure patients, providers, and regulators have clear, upfront information about where the drugs are made.
Senator Gillibrand said, “Americans deserve to know where their prescription drugs are manufactured so they can make informed health care decisions. The CLEAR LABELS Act would shine a light on pharmaceutical manufacturing by making this information readily accessible to patients, pharmacists, and providers while strengthening accountability across the supply chain. As the top Democrat on the Senate Aging Committee, I will keep fighting to make sure every American has access to safe, effective, lifesaving medications and the clear, reliable information they need.”
