Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) appeared in a Fox News segment this week where he discussed his push to move generic drug production back to the U.S., as over 90% of U.S. pharmaceuticals originate from countries such as India and China.
“Eighty percent of our generic drugs are manufactured in China. Now, number one, China could stop selling to us, and we'll be out of drugs within weeks. But number two, 90% of the ingredients are from China,” Scott explained.
Sen. Scott claimed that China’s control over the sourcing of these ingredients and drugs prevents the FDA from inspecting their production and quality, posing a threat to both citizens and the military.
“The FDA has not done proper inspections for years of any of these plants overseas," the Florida Republican commented. "There's a study out of the University of Indiana that you have a 54% increased chance of hospitalization or death if you take a generic drug from India and China. We need to have a plan to get this back into this country. We need to know what you're putting into your body.”
Scott further argued that the U.S. could move generic drug production stateside in as little as a couple of years, expressing confidence that the Trump administration can incentivize companies to make the shift.
“This is going to stop under President Trump. It's going to happen. It's going to change," Scott affirmed. "You could do it very quickly, especially on drugs. It's mostly produced by robotics now. So you can do this. But we've got to get the American industry to do its job, and then what we have to do as soon as possible is make sure it happens. Americans want this.”
Scott recently held U.S. Senate Aging Committee hearings on the overseas production of generic drugs, the potential dangers they can pose to the U.S., its pharmaceutical industry, and the lives of Americans.
