Rand Paul Wants to Bring European Medicine to the United States

From a Rand Paul press release:

Today the U.S. Senate voted to pass the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (S.3187), which included language inserted by Sen. Rand Paul. This language would force the FDA to accept data from clinical investigations conducted outside the United States, including the European Union, to speed the process of getting life-saving drugs on the market by the FDA.

“Innovation in clinical drug trials should not be confined to the data received from trials in the United States. Findings from countries that incorporate the same rigorous requirements as we do when developing life-saving drugs and devices should be accepted by the FDA as well,” Sen. Paul said.

I agree but I would go further: Any drug or medical device introduced into say the EU, Japan, Canada or Australia ought to be automatically approved in the United States within 90 days. Such a procedure would reduce delay, eliminate needless duplication and cut costs.

Think about it this way: Europeans don’t regard the FDA as the best or final arbiter of safety and efficacy so why should we?

See FDAReview.org, especially the section on reform options, for more.