Legislation to Lower Drug Costs, Allow Canadian Prescription Imports, and Address Baby Formula Shortage Clears Senate Hurdle

Click HERE to watch Sen. Collins’ remarks on the MOBILE Health Care Act. 

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) announced that multiple health care bills she co-sponsored advanced as part of the FDA Safety and Landmark Advancements (FDASLA) Act, which passed the Senate Health Committee by a vote of 13-9. The bipartisan package will now be considered by the full Senate.

“As we continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that we work to improve and strengthen our health care system,” said Senator Collins. “This comprehensive bill includes many of my priorities, such as lowering the cost of prescription drugs, helping to alleviate the infant formula shortage and prevent future shortages, and increasing the safety of personal care products.   I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle as we move this package forward.”

Priorities included in the FDASLA Act for which Senator Collins advocated include:

• The Modernizing the Accelerated Approval Pathway Act, bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Collins and Tim Kaine (D-VA) that would strengthen the accelerated approval pathway, increase transparency, and ensure consistency in use across FDA’s centers and divisions.

• The Interchangeable Biologics Clarity Act, bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Collins and Tim Kaine (D-VA) that would strengthen the FDA approval process and increase transparency for interchangeable biologic medicines that can be substituted for brand name medications at the pharmacy counter, which would lower costs and increase the availability of key medications.

• A provision requiring the FDA to issue regulations allowing the importation of certain prescription drugs for personal use from Canada.

• Important infant formula provisions including requiring FDA to issue a national strategy within 90 days to increase resiliency of the infant formula supply chain, requiring FDA to communicate with manufacturers following an inspection and reinspect facilities in a timely manner, requiring FDA to conduct annual inspections of each infant formula manufacturer, requiring manufacturers to promptly report to FDA after initiating a recall, and requiring manufacturers to develop and implement redundancy risk management plans that identify and evaluate risk to supply.

• Significant provisions from the Personal Care Products Safety Act, bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Collins and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that would help protect consumer health and strengthen the FDA’s authority to ensure the safety of personal care products and their ingredients.

The Health Committee also passed the MOBILE Health Care Act, bipartisan legislation Senator Collins authored with Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) that would expand federal grant opportunities to include part-time mobile clinics and renovation, acquisition, and new construction of health centers to increase access to health care services in rural and underserved communities. 

“Community Health Centers in Maine play an indispensable role in ensuring that rural and underserved communities receive affordable, quality health care,” said Senator Collins. “The MOBILE Act would help these centers further expand their reach by providing greater flexibility and allowing them to bring clinics even closer to the patients that they serve. As an example, mobile mammogram clinics can help reverse the decline in preventive cancer screenings that has occurred during the pandemic.”

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