{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/van-hollen-blumenthal-brown-coons-introduce-bill-to-protect-consumers-using-generic-medications", "Van Hollen, Blumenthal, Brown, Coons Introduce Bill to Protect Consumers Using Generic Medications", "2023-09-22", "2023", "2023-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "MD", "Chris Van Hollen", "V000128", "www.vanhollen.senate.gov", "vanhollen", "https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Chris Coons (D-Del.) announced the introduction of the Updated Drug Labeling for Patient Safety Act, legislation to allow all prescription drug manufacturers to revise medication labels to provide accurate, up-to-date warnings to consumers. Current federal law mandates that generic drug labels must match those approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their brand-name equivalents. This bill will enable drug companies to update labels for generic medications independently \u2013 ensuring patients have the latest information about the potential side effects and risks associated with their prescriptions.\n\n\u201cMillions of Americans choose generic medication over brand-name for their lower prices and accessibility \u2013 and they should have access to the most accurate and up-to-date information available. That\u2019s why we need to provide all drug manufacturers the ability to update their labels to reflect the most current information. This bill will ensure consumers have the tools they need to make better-informed health care decisions,\u201d said Senator Van Hollen.\n\n\u201cConsumers deserve up-to-date warning labels on all of their prescriptions \u2013 name brand or generic,\u201d said Senator Blumenthal. \u201cOur common sense measure allows all manufacturers to revise labels so patients can be aware of potential side effects and other short and long-term risks. Giving Americans the transparency and information they need will help protect their health and wellbeing.\u201d\n\n\u201cOhioans need to know the most current safety information and potential side effects of the drugs they take,\u201d said Senator Brown. \u201cThis legislation will ensure Ohioans have the most up to date information at the pharmacy counter, regardless of whether the drug is generic or branded, and hold any drug company that fails to update its labels accountable.\u201d\n\n\u201cDelawareans deserve medication that is affordable, safe to use, and transparent about its side effects,\u201d said Senator Coons. \u201cThis legislation is a step forward that will help ensure generic medication manufacturers are providing helpful, accurate information to consumers that will help Americans make up-to-date and informed decisions about their health care.\u201d\n\nBill text can be viewed here.\n\nWhile FDA regulations allow brand name manufacturers to independently update their labels if they identify new risks or side-effects, generic drug makers can only adopt the approved changes made by the brand-name drug manufacturers. The key problem with this arrangement is that manufacturers of brand-name medications have little incentive to promptly update their labels after generic competitors enter the market, since sales of the brand-name drug tend to slow significantly after that point. As a result, many Americans are at risk of using medications with outdated safety information.\n\nFurthermore, those Americans have no legal recourse if they are harmed by a generic drug that is not accompanied by the latest side-effect information. In the 2013 Supreme Court case Pliva v. Mensing, the Court ruled that federal law precludes generic drug makers from independently changing their labels and therefore they cannot be held liable for failing to add or strengthen the warnings on their products. The Patient Safety and Generic Labeling Improvement Act resolves this matter by authorizing generic drug labels to be revised using the same processes that are currently available to brand-name manufacturers.\n\nThe Updated Drug Labeling for Patient Safety Act is endorsed by AARP, AARP Maryland, the American Association for Justice (AAJ), Public Citizen, National Center for Health Research, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Action, National Association of Consumer Advocates, U.S. Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG), and Maryland PIRG.\n\n\u201cAARP MD believes it is vital that consumers have the right to know information about the drugs they are taking,\u201d said Hank Greenberg, State Director of AARP Maryland. \u201cOut of date labels can be confusing or even dangerous. This important legislation will require that consumers receive accurate, up-to-date information.\u201d\n\n\u201cAARP believes generic drugs are one of the most effective ways for consumers to lower their prescription drug costs, and we encourage our members whenever possible to speak with their doctors about what generic drugs may be helpful to them,\u201d said Bill Sweeney, AARP Senior Vice President for Government Affairs. \u201cThis bill will ensure that consumer have access to the most up-to-date safety information about the generic drugs they intend to take.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo many Americans rely on generic prescription drugs, but their health is needlessly jeopardized because the labels on their prescriptions don\u2019t warn them about newfound potential risks. It\u2019s critical that Congress act now,\u201d said Linda Lipsen, CEO of the American Association for Justice.\n\n\u201cNo drug is safe in all situations; a drug is safe when used in accordance with labeling that accurately reflects known risks,\u201d said Dr. Robert Steinbrook, director of Public Citizen\u2019s Health Research Group. \u201cAllowing generic drug companies to make safety updates to their products labeling, as this bill aims to do, would fill a safety gap and better protect public health.\u201d\n\n\u201cPatients deserve to know about all possible risks when they take medication. Makers of generic drugs are not currently allowed to update their warning labels, which is unfair to everyone \u2013 patients and companies. We greatly appreciate Senator Van Hollen\u2019s leadership to fix this dangerous problem,\u201d said Dr. Diana Zuckerman, President, National Center for Health Research.\n\n\u201cConsumers must have access to accurate safety information about their medications,\u201d said Courtney Griffin, Director of Consumer Product Safety at Consumer Federation of America. \u201cConsumers have little control over whether their drugs are the brand-name or generic versions. It is inherently unfair that consumers may not have accurate, up-to-date information when their medication is a generic version.\u201d\n\n\u201cSen. Van Hollen\u2019s bill will put patients using brand-name drugs and generic drugs on a level playing field, by ensuring that both, and in this case, users of generic drugs, will not only benefit from updated safety labeling, but they will also be able to enforce their state laws and seek accountability against manufacturers if they are harmed,\u201d said Christine Hines, legislative director at the National Association of Consumer Advocates.\n\n\u201cGeneric drugs are essential to help patients save money on their needed medications,\" said Patricia Kelmar, Senior Director of U.S. PIRG\u2019s health care campaigns. \u201cThis bill will ensure that patients can rely on the information provided by the labels of their lower-cost, therapeutically-equivalent generic drugs. Patients need the most up-to-date, accurate labels for all FDA-approved drugs.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe thank Senator Van Hollen for his leadership on the Updated Drug Labeling for Patient Safety Act. This bill will help ensure that patients who enjoy the cost-savings of generic drugs have the most updated information on the prescription drug labels,\u201d said Maryland PIRG Director Emily Scarr. \u201cThe best health care is high value health care \u2013 low prices and high quality.\u201d\n\nThe House companion legislation was introduced earlier this year by U.S. Representatives Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Annie Kuster (D-N.H.).", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:37:48Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/news/press-releases/van-hollen-blumenthal-brown-coons-introduce-bill-to-protect-consumers-using-generic-medications"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7855799049139023, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}