Durbin Meets With FDA Commissioner Nominee
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Dr. Marty Makary, President Trump’s nominee to serve as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). During their meeting, Durbin asked Dr. Makary about his views on regulating addictive and harmful e-cigarettes, which are used by two million children in the United States. For years, FDA has failed to follow the law that requires an e-cigarette to first prove it is “appropriate for the protection of public health” to gain market entry. A federal court ruled that FDA was required to finish reviewing all such e-cigarette applications by September 9, 2021, but the agency has yet to complete these application reviews.
Durbin further discussed the FDA’s regulatory standards for approving drugs and vaccines, following Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to cancel an FDA advisory committee meeting to pick next year’s flu vaccine strain. Durbin made clear that the head of the FDA should be in support of safe, effective vaccines and should push medical research forward to develop treatments for diseases impacting the American public.
They also discussed ways to enhance FDA’s oversight of dietary supplements. Currently, dietary supplement companies do not have to register their products with FDA, leaving the agency without the much-needed information to properly understand or oversee the market. Durbin’s Dietary Supplement Listing Act would require dietary supplement manufacturers to list their products with the FDA. Lastly, Durbin and Dr. Makary discussed the pharmaceutical industry’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising and Durbin’s bipartisan legislation to empower patients and reduce prescription drug costs by requiring price disclosures in these commercials.
“As head of FDA, the Commissioner must make life or death decisions. Every decision impacts the public health of our country, and Americans should be able to trust the medications they take and the food they eat. I made clear to Dr. Makary that we need an FDA Commissioner willing to stand up against the pharmaceutical and tobacco giants, as well as the President and HHS Secretary, when needed to protect the health and wellbeing of Americans,” said Durbin.
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