Senator Urges FDA Commissioner To Take Any & All Steps Necessary To Quickly Remedy This Potentially Life-Threatening Situation
CHICAGO—U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today pressed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Pfizer’s Meridian Medical Technologies, Inc. for information regarding the ongoing challenges that families nationwide are facing with respect to obtaining EpiPens. Last month, FDA added EpiPen 0.3 mg and EpiPen Jr. 0.15 mg, as well as generic versions of these products, to its list of drug shortages, due to supply disruptions and manufacturing delays at Meridian Medical Technologies.
“Our federal agencies must do everything within their power to quickly and efficiently assist the manufacturers in rectifying their EpiPen shortage situation. Failure to do so could result in loss of life,” Durbin wrote in a letter to FDA Commissioner Gottlieb.
A recent survey by the Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) organization found that more than 400 patients in 45 states are having difficulty obtaining EpiPens at their pharmacies, including some families in Illinois. EpiPens are vital for the 15 million Americans who suffer from food allergies, including one in 13 children.
Full text of the letter to the FDA is available by clicking here:
Full text of the letter to Pfizer’s Meridian Medical Technologies, Inc. is available by clicking here:
Read our editorial on the ongoing shortage:
The Epinephrine Auto-Injector Shortage and the Roaring Silence
