releases: http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2628
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| http://franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2628 | Sen. Franken?s Bipartisan Bill to Keep Medicine Safe for Minnesotans Signed into Law | 2013-11-27 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Democrat | House | MN | Al Franken | F000457 | franken.senate.gov | legacy | Today, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) issued the following statement after his bipartisan legislation to help keep medicine safe for patients and providers in Minnesota and across the country was signed into law by the President: "After working with a bipartisan coalition of my colleagues to get this bill passed, I'm glad to say that people in Minnesota and around the country will have greater peace of mind about the safety of their medicine," said Sen. Franken. "This law will go a long way in helping to prevent crises like last year's meningitis outbreak and help make drugs safer for Minnesotans. This is a commonsense fix that will help a lot of people." Last year, 64 American deaths and hundreds of infections were linked to a Massachusetts drug compounding facility that distributed a steroid contaminated with a fungus that causes meningitis to health care facilities in 20 states, including Minnesota. This law will seek to stop similar outbreaks and help prevent deaths related to contaminated medicines. 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 then passed by the Senate last week. The bill clarifies the oversight responsibilities of the Food and Drug Administration over many higher-risk compounding facilities—called outsourcing facilities—and holds 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 also improves 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 |