WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King released the following statement today after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1919, the Safeguarding America’s Pharmaceuticals Act.

The legislation includes a provision in Section 8 that would allow pharmaceutical manufacturers to make labeling information for pharmacists and other health professionals available by electronic means in lieu of paper.  This would mean that information on dosage, side effects, warnings or other critical information would be available only online and would not be provided on paper with the drugs themselves. This would have a negative effect on Twin Rivers Paper Company’s mill in Madawaska and Verso Paper Corp.’s mill in Bucksport, which employ 600 and 500 people respectively, and produce the uncoated printing papers used as pharmaceutical inserts in North America.

Similar legislation in the Senate is still pending and does not include the Section 8 language.

 “We have serious concerns about the Section 8 provision passed by the House because of the potential health and safety risks it poses for Maine consumers and caregivers who depend on pharmacists and other health professionals having accessible and accurate information regarding prescription pharmaceutical and biological products. If information on prescription drugs is only available via the Internet, it could present a serious accessibility challenge to Mainers in rural areas where internet connectivity can be low or unreliable and then that information could be unavailable in the wake of a power outage caused by a natural disaster or other catastrophic incident.  This provision also poses a significant threat to the economic vitality of our papermaking industry which provides good, quality jobs across the state,” Senators Collins and King said in a joint statement. “We will work to ensure that no comparable language is included in the Senate version of the bill and that any final legislation reconciled in conference also does not contain a similar provision.”

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