Golden Leads Bipartisan Push to Provide Patients with Hard Copies of Prescribing Info, Protect Jobs in Madawaska
Despite impact on patients and doctors in rural areas, FDA plans to do away with printed inserts for prescription drugs. Twin Rivers Paper Mill in Madawaska manufactures paper inserts, employs more than 500 Mainers.
WASHINGTON — Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) took action today to ensure rural patients have dependable access to information about their medications and to protect jobs in Aroostook County. Golden led a bipartisan group of 19 members calling on House appropriators to include specific language in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appropriations bill. The language would prevent the FDA from moving forward with a plan to distribute important prescription drug information electronically rather than in printed form via paper inserts. Golden's letter is also designed to help protect jobs at the Twin Rivers paper mill in Madawaska, which manufactures the paper inserts.
"Many folks in rural Maine don't have consistent access to the internet,"said Congressman Golden."Forcing them to go online to find information for their medications puts them at risk. By pushing to keep important prescription information on paper, we're standing up for patients in rural areas and protecting good-paying jobs in Aroostook County."
Despite evidence that the move has adverse impacts on public health, FDA has proposed a rule that would replace the current paper copies of important medication information with an electronic — and less accessible — copy. A Government Accountability Office study showed that relying on electronic labeling rather than paper inserts can have negative public health effects, particularly in rural settings.
Read a copy of the letter here.