STAT Plus: Pharma panics as Washington pushes to bring drug manufacturing back to the U.S.
WASHINGTON — As the coronavirus pandemic disrupts global supply chains, lawmakers are increasingly calling on drug makers to exclusively manufacture medicines in the United States. But for a large swath of the pharmaceutical industry, that’s an existential threat.
Already, lawmakers have saddled drug makers with extra paperwork and mandated that they develop and submit to the Food and Drug Administration “contingency plans” when they run low on certain critical drugs. But some lawmakers want to go much further: They are contemplating previously unheard of steps, like virtually mandating drug makers stop sourcing any of the ingredients that go into medicines from China, or requiring consumer warnings on drugs made there. Since the pandemic began, lawmakers have introduced roughly 20 bills aimed at overhauling the drug supply chain.
