Murray Works to Modernize FDA and Ensure Public Safety

(Washington, D.C.) – Today U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash) worked to modernize the Food and Drug Administration by helping to pass out of committee the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act of 2007. The legislation, which Murray helped craft, includes several bills that address drug safety, medical devices, pediatric research, and other issues.

With Murray’s vote, the bill passed out of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and is expected to be considered by the full Senate in the coming weeks.

“Throughout our country, researchers, scientists and doctors are making 21st century medical advances, and this legislation will ensure that we have a 21st century FDA with the resources, authority and oversight to ensure safe drugs move from the lab to the medicine cabinet without delay,” Murray said.




“I believe that this legislation will improve the way we deliver safe, innovative healthcare in America, and it’s my hope that it will also begin to restore confidence in the institutions that safeguard the public’s health and safety.”

Murray’s statement on the bill follows:

Chairman Kennedy and Senator Enzi, thank you for your work on the Food and Drug Revitalization Act. We all share the same goal of making sure the Food and Drug Administration remains the Gold Standard for drug safety and effectiveness, and this legislation moves us closer to that goal.

Throughout our country, researchers, scientists and doctors are making 21st century medical advances, and this legislation will ensure that we have a 21st century FDA with the resources, authority and oversight to ensure safe drugs move from the lab to the medicine cabinet without delay.

Like other members on this committee, I worked on some of the FDA reforms in the 1990s. Those reforms responded to the challenges we faced then, and this bill responds to the challenges we face today.

In recent years, we’ve seen problems at the FDA with drug approval and after-market surveillance. This bill addresses those challenges and ensures the FDA has the resources and tools to promptly and thoroughly review new drugs and medical devices.

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  It creates a new system to actively monitor the safety of drugs after they’ve been approved by the FDA.
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  It strengthens science at the FDA and improves transparency.
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  It improves oversight and information about clinical trials.
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  It works to prevent potential conflicts of interest among advisory committee members.

And it will improve medical care for children through the Pediatric Research Improvement Act and the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, which are included in the underlying bill. Too often, doctors are not given guidance on the proper doses of prescription drugs for children. This bill will help eliminate the guesswork so children get the right doses for safer, more effective treatment.

I believe that this legislation will improve the way we deliver safe, innovative healthcare in America, and it’s my hope that it will also begin to restore confidence in the institutions that safeguard the public’s health and safety.

Again, I really want to thank the Chairman and Ranking Member. I’ve been proud to work with you and the other members of the committee to craft this bill, and I’m eager to move it forward so that it can begin to deliver benefits for patients throughout the country.