House: Healthcare security is national security

“The United States should never be dependent on the Chinese Communist Party for antibiotics and essential medicines. But that’s exactly the dangerous position we are in today,” Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., said.

Ronald Piervencenzi, a witness testifying before the committee and the CEO of United States Pharmacopeia, said drug prices, quality, manufacturing locations and complexity all contribute to medication shortages in the U.S.

Rep. Diana Degette, D-Co., said President Donald Trump’s executive order to reduce regulations for domestic production would harm efforts to produce quality medicines and drugs that people need. She added that organizations like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should continue to be involved in manufacturing.

“The FDA’s involvement ensures quality and safety and thereby it averts drug shortages caused by subpar drugs,” Degette said.

Democrat members of the committee also raised concerns about recent layoffs in the Department of Health and Humans Services and the Food and Drug Administration. They said these layoffs can impact supply chains and domestic pharmaceutical development.

“You can’t say that we’re going to increase supply chains and domestic manufacturing when you don’t have the people available to actually do the work,” Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said.

Dawn O’Connell, a witness on the panel and former assistant secretary at HHS during the Biden administration, said the layoffs included employees at HHS who specialized in economics, market demands and supply chain management in healthcare.

“To have a staff that understood both and are able to work across both and pick the right investments has been really important and an unique skill set that we were pleased to have,” O’Connell said.

Republicans on the committee also emphasized placing stricter scrutiny on the practices of federal contractors that develop vaccines and medicines.

“I don’t think we do enough independent, and I mean independent third-party testing on all these products,” Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., said.

While both Democrats and Republicans agreed over the national security risks involved in securing a domestic supply chain for healthcare materials, Wednesday’s hearing highlighted key partisan differences in approach.

"It is time to act. We need to view pharmaceutical and health care supply chain independence just as we are viewing energy independence," Rep. Carter, R-Ga., said. "I am proud to stand with President Trump and all those committed to putting America first in our health care system-starting with the medicines we rely on every day."