Written by Ahmed Aburin
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Outgoing U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf said on Thursday that current laws and regulations protect Americans from the risks of popular weight loss drugs, especially drug combinations purchased online. said it was not enough.
Sales of these drugs would not be so problematic if the price of the original drugs were not so high, Khalif told reporters at a media roundtable.
“I’m very concerned about the Internet compounding industry. Some of it is certainly of very high quality, but when you’re ordering something on the Internet, you don’t know exactly what you’re getting. ” Khalif said he plans to retire from the agency once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
“If the prices of these drugs weren’t so high, it wouldn’t be as much of an issue.”
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly’s weight loss drugs can cost more than $1,000 for a month’s supply, while combined versions typically cost a few hundred dollars.
Khalif said the FDA needs more help. His comments contrast with those of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee for secretary of health, who said the department was “abolishing” the division responsible for food nutrition labeling because it was not protecting Americans. “We should,” he said.
“Look at the food side. If you say you’re severely underfunded and you also want to fundamentally change the food system, that’s going to be a problem,” Khalif said.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
