Towns proposes FDA drug recall bill

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman introduces legislation to authorize FDA to mandate recalls of adulterated, misbranded or potentially unsafe drugs. Rep. Edolphus Towns offered 1H.R. 5740 July 15; the bill awaits action by the Energy and Commerce Committee. "Too often, the FDA has been in the position of having to persuade companies to recall suspect products," the New York Democrat said, adding H.R. 5740 would give the agency "the full authority to pull contaminated medication from the market when necessary." Towns' bill responds directly to Johnson & Johnson's extensive recalls of OTC children's products and his committee's investigation of the firm's manufacturing problems and FDA's response to them (2"The Tan Sheet" May 31, 2010). FDA currently has mandatory recall authority for medical devices, but not for drugs or dietary supplements