If FDA is 'Broken,' Why is Congress Focused on Adding Tobacco Regulation to the Agency Rather Than Ensuring the Safety of Food,
March 26 2008 - 11:20AM
PR Newswire (US)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., March 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Congress
has criticized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past
year for not ensuring the safety of the nation's food, prescription
drug and medical device supplies. Senior members of Congress have
stated at various times, "The health and safety of the American
people is at risk... our food supply becomes more dangerous all the
time... there is a fundamental breakdown for evaluating the safety
of drugs... the FDA is badly broken." These sentiments are
reflected in numerous national media stories describing a variety
of FDA warnings on and recalls of food and drugs. In addition to
elected officials, a scientific advisory panel recently reported
that "American lives are at risk" due to the inability of FDA to
oversee the safety of the food, drug and medical device supplies in
the United States. Despite the recognition of the need to address
these issues, Congress is focused on legislation to expand FDA's
responsibilities to include tobacco products with a new regulatory
bureaucracy funded by more than $7 billion in new fees and taxes.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is expected to consider
the legislation within the next several weeks. "This raises the
question of congressional priorities: should they be working to
ensure the safety of food, prescription drugs and medical devices,
or considering additional regulations on tobacco products, paid for
by billions in new taxes and fees?" said Tommy J. Payne, executive
vice president of public affairs for Reynolds American Inc. "The
FDA commissioner raised serious concerns with this legislation in
testimony submitted to Congress last fall. The commissioner
expressed concern that the bill may require the agency to divert
funds from other programs like the safety of drugs and food; that
it could undermine the public-health role of FDA; that the public
might believe that products 'approved' by FDA are safe and that
this will actually encourage individuals to smoke more rather than
less; and finally, that the bill requires the agency to perform
functions that are outside of its expertise," Payne said. Payne
also questioned the wisdom of adding $7.6 billion in new taxes and
fees to support a huge new bureaucracy in Washington at this time.
"A majority of people want Congress to address the core safety
issues FDA is already responsible for, as well as a range of other
issues important to many Americans, like the economy." Payne noted,
"The FDA currently spends about $1.68 per year per consumer on food
safety. This bill, if signed into law, would have them spending $10
per year per consumer on regulating tobacco products." In
television ads that began running this week, Reynolds American
questions the ability of FDA to implement a vast new regulatory
scheme, given its current responsibilities. "It is possible to
create reasonable tobacco regulation that reduces the harm caused
by tobacco products, provides accurate information to adult tobacco
consumers, encourages development of new generation tobacco
products and allows for legitimate competition," Payne said.
"Unfortunately, the bill being considered in Congress does not
accomplish these goals." Editor's Note: To see the ads Reynolds
American is currently running, please go to
http://www.fdaconcerns.org/. ABOUT US Reynolds American Inc.
(NYSE:RAI) is the parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company;
Conwood Company, LLC; Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, Inc; and
R.J. Reynolds Global Products, Inc. -- R.J. Reynolds Tobacco
Company, the second-largest U.S. tobacco company, manufactures
about one of every three cigarettes sold in the country. The
company's brands include five of the 10 best-selling U.S. brands:
Camel, Kool, Pall Mall, Winston and Doral. -- Conwood Company, LLC
is the nation's second-largest manufacturer of smokeless tobacco
products. Its leading brands are Kodiak, Grizzly and Levi Garrett.
Conwood also sells and distributes a variety of tobacco products
manufactured by Lane, Limited, including Winchester and Captain
Black little cigars, and Bugler roll-your-own tobacco. -- Santa Fe
Natural Tobacco Company, Inc. manufactures Natural American Spirit
cigarettes and other additive-free tobacco products. -- R.J.
Reynolds Global Products, Inc. manufactures, sells and/or
distributes American-blend cigarettes, including Natural American
Spirit, and other tobacco products to a variety of customers
worldwide. Copies of RAI's news releases, annual reports, SEC
filings and other financial materials are available at
http://www.reynoldsamerican.com/ . DATASOURCE: Reynolds American
Inc. CONTACT: Maura Payne of Reynolds American Inc.,
+1-336-741-6996 Web site: http://www.reynoldsamerican.com/
http://www.fdaconcerns.org/
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