2014 -- S 2225

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

IN SUPPORT OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN LABELING (COOL) FOR PHARMACEUTICALS

     Introduced By: Senators Ruggerio, McCaffrey, Cool Rumsey, Goldin, and Miller

     Date Introduced: January 30, 2014

     Referred To: Senate Health & Human Services

     WHEREAS, Based on the most recent data available, a record 4.02 billion drug

prescriptions were written in the United States in 2011; and

     WHEREAS, The 2011 Food and Drug Administration report "Pathway to Global Product

Safety" stated that 80 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients in medications sold in the

United States were manufactured in other countries; and

     WHEREAS, According to data from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the

FDA only inspected 11 percent of the more than 3,700 foreign pharmaceutical manufacturing

sites in 2009; and

     WHEREAS, The risks associated with foreign manufacturing of drugs were tragically

demonstrated in 2008, when a foreign manufacturer substituted a fake ingredient in a supply of

the blood thinner heparin and the contaminated drug killed 81 people in the United States and

sickened hundreds of others; and

     WHEREAS, While this case does not mean that all foreign manufactured

pharmaceuticals are at risk; it highlights the safety concerns associated with imported drugs, and

the need for greater consumer information and protection; and

     WHEREAS, In recent years, the United States Congress has seen the introduction of

legislation, including 2008 S. 3633, the "Transparency in Drug Labeling Act," which would

require drug labels to include the identity of the country of manufacture of each active and

inactive ingredient in the drug; and

     WHEREAS, Such legislation would help inform and empower consumers to make their

own decisions about what drugs they choose to purchase and consume, and would bring greater

public attention to pharmaceutical safety; now therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

supports federal legislative and regulatory efforts to increase country-of-origin labeling for

pharmaceuticals to inform consumers of where their drugs are made; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Rhode Island Congressional Delegation.

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