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Premier applauds Sens. Chris Murphy (C-CT) and Mike Braun (R-IN) for introducing bipartisan legislation to help eliminate the proliferation of gray/black markets for medical devices by cracking down on manufacturers of illegitimate products. The Protecting Patients from Counterfeit Medical Devices Act (S. 3416) would do this by expanding FDA’s authority to take action against manufacturers of counterfeit items, including civil monetary penalties.
Throughout the pandemic, Premier has vetted thousands of vendors for hospitals, non-acute providers, healthcare professionals, and community organizations. Still, providers and the public remain vulnerable to these predatory and costly practices, which jeopardize patient and worker safety.
To further strengthen the integrity of the supply chain, Premier also recommends creating a centralized clearinghouse that would remove the risk and guess work from efforts by healthcare providers, states and other entities to secure a reliable supply of critical medical supplies. When providers suspect product as being counterfeit, they should have a central entity to trust to vet and authenticate the product.
We encourage the Senate to pass the Protecting Patients from Counterfeit Medical Devices Act as part of an overall legislative strategy to build greater resiliency in our nation’s healthcare supply chain.