Foreign Drugs - This Worries Me.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) have just introduced a bill that would make drugs, devices and biologics that are approved in other developed countries also for sale here. The complaint is the FDA takes too long to approve stuff, and the FDA says they don't have the funding/staff to go faster. So instead of funding the FDA we can rely on "developed countries" to do it for us.

Cruise says...

We continue to lose far too many of our loved ones to the “invisible graveyard,” as economist Alex Tabarrok has described: lives that could have been saved but for a bureaucratic barrier that rejects medical cures and innovation…The bill I am introducing takes the first step to reverse this trend. It provides for reciprocal drug approval, so that cures and medical devices that are already approved in other countries can more expeditiously come to the U.S.

Sounds good, right? Since if Cruise's loved ones needed an EU drug he could well afford to take them there, and his record of not giving a shit about women's or poor people's health, I smell a rat.

Amending the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to allow for reciprocal approval of drugs, devices and biologics from foreign sponsors in certain trusted, developed countries including EU member countries, Israel, Australia, Canada and Japan.

Let's see, EU is Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

So if something is approved in say Croatia, Slovakia, or Slovenia, my Insurance Company can force my Doctor to use it, rather than FDA approved stuff, or they can legally walk away? Would all the future drugs be approved over there, because it's cheaper for the drug companies than getting approval here? Does cheaper approval for the drug companies mean they'll sell it for less? Yeah, sure.

If a promising application for a life-saving drug is declined Congress is granted the authority to disapprove of a denied application and override an FDA decision with a majority vote via a joint resolution.

A bunch of muppets who can't find their ass with both hands without guidance and approval of party leadership, will have the power to veto the FDA?
Kind of makes me glad I'm circling the drain.

Oh, and this isn't about buying the same drug cheaper from Canada, that's another issue.