releases: http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2620
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2620 | Sen. Franken?s Bipartisan Bill to Keep Medicine Safe for Minnesotans Passes Senate; Will Soon Become Law | 2013-11-18 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Democrat | House | MN | Al Franken | F000457 | franken.senate.gov | legacy | Today, U.S. Sen. Al Franken's (D-Minn.) bipartisan legislation to help keep medicine safe for patients and providers in Minnesota and across the country passed in the Senate and is now on its way to becoming law. The bill is expected to be signed by the President soon. Last year, 64 Americans died and hundreds more were infected after a Massachusetts drug compounding facility distributed a steroid contaminated with a fungus that causes meningitis to health care facilities in 20 states, including Minnesota. The legislation seeks to stop similar outbreaks and help prevent deaths related to contaminated medicines. "Minnesotans need to be able to trust that the medications they receive are safe, but unfortunately, that hasn't always been the case," said Sen. Franken. "Today, we took a huge step forward in solving that problem, and when this bipartisan legislation becomes law, people in Minnesota and around the country will have greater peace of mind about the safety of their medicine." In July, Sen. Franken and a bipartisan group of his Senate Health Committee colleagues introduced legislation to help ensure the safety of drug compounding, which includes the making, mixing, diluting, or combining of drugs for individual patients. In September, Senate Health Committee leaders and House health policy leaders reached an agreement on compromise legislation, which was passed by the House and was passed by the Senate today. The bill would clarify the oversight responsibilities of the Food and Drug Administration over many large-volume sterile facilities—called outsourcing facilities—and would hold these facilities to high quality standards. Last year's meningitis outbreak alerted the nation that providers and patients need sources of safe compounded drugs. Following the outbreak, a bipartisan group of Senate Health Committee colleagues-led by Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Ranking Member Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Sen. Franken, and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.)—developed legislation to help ensure that quality compounded drugs are available to patients who need them. Sen. Franken's legislation would also improve patient safety by replacing today's patchwork of state product tracing laws with a strong, uniform standard that would ultimately result in electronic, interoperable unit level product tracing for the entire country. The last comprehensive effort to establish safeguards for the drug distribution supply chain was 25 years ago. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |