U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) on Oct. 1 sponsored a bipartisan bill that would establish an essential strategic stockpile for generic medicines.
“This legislation ensures that Americans have a constant stockpile of essential medicines that can be deployed to any part of the country at a moment’s notice,” Rep. Carter said.
The congressman introduced the Essential Medicines Strategic Stockpile Act of 2020, H.R. 8479, with lead cosponsor U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) to establish a three-year pilot program that creates public-private partnerships to stockpile generic medications that are at risk of experiencing shortages, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Carter’s office.
If enacted, H.R. 8479 would require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) during the pilot program to work with stakeholders and other government agencies to create a list of 50 generic medications deemed essential in public health emergencies, according to the summary.
Distributors then could contract with HHS to stockpile the medications within their own supply chains and would be required to continuously cycle the additional product through those supply chains to avoid any expiration issues while maintaining a six-month supply of the product.
“At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, we quickly realized how reliant our medical supply chain is on foreign countries like China and India,” said Rep. Carter. “This reliance creates both public health and security risks for the American people.”
For example, he said that as the COVID-19 pandemic spread earlier this year, India withheld 26 essential drugs from exportation, vastly limiting supply and access to other countries. “Americans should not have to rely on other countries for access to the most basic medicines like acetaminophen, penicillin and amoxicillin,” Rep. Carter added.
The bill has been referred to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration.