FDA Urged To Enforce Country­-Of-Origin Drug Labels

A nonprofit organization that promotes products manufactured in the U.S. is urging the Food & Drug Administration to enforce a law requiring pharmacies to label each prescription drug with its country of origin. The group, Made in the USA Foundation, is concerned about the rise in counterfeit and contaminated drugs being imported into the U.S. from developing countries, such as China and India. Consumers can’t protect themselves from these risky products if retailers fail to label the country of origin of prescription drugs, the foundation contends. FDA considers the country of origin the place where a product is manufactured, regardless of where the product’s ingredients are from. Pharmaceutical manufacturers purchase active ingredients from multiple sources in different countries, and they switch suppliers regularly. So even if the country of origin is included on a drug label, it is still difficult to know where all of the ingredients in a medication originated. Approximately 40% of the prescription drugs sold in the U.S. are manufactured overseas, and 80% of the active ingredients used to make drugs in the U.S. are produced in other countries, according to FDA.