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A28 u.s. news
Diahuebs 1 september 2022

Florida sues FDA over 'delay' of low-cost drug importations

and has been able to success- Medicare. The savings will pharmaceutical companies."
fully lobby against propos- only apply to a handful of
als to import drugs at lower drugs starting in 2026, but it "Given the near-universal
costs. Critics have argued represents a breakthrough in support for programs like
importing drugs could lead efforts to bring down drug Florida's, it seems the FDA's
to risks of counterfeit or in- prices. That and other cost- reluctance to approve Flor-
effective medications that saving measures in the law ida's SIP Proposal is a nod
would be difficult for Ameri- could reduce demand for to the large pharmaceuti-
can governments to regulate. less expensive imports from cal companies that oppose
Canada. these importation programs
Democratic President Joe because they yield increased
Biden has backed such im- Florida's Republican-con- competition and lower pre-
portation programs as a way trolled Legislature approved scription drug prices," the
to lower prices, signing an the state's importation pro- lawsuit reads.
executive order in 2021 that gram in 2019, but it requires
directed the FDA to work approval from federal health The federal lawsuit, filed in
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. "Florida has been ready to with states on developing officials before it can take ef- Tampa, asks the court to rule
(AP) — Florida sued fed- deliver cheaper prescrip- proposals to ship drugs to the fect. The state estimates tax- that the FDA and HHS have
eral health officials on tion drugs to those that need U.S. under federal law. payers could save up to $150 delayed Florida's proposal
Wednesday, accusing them for nearly two years," million annually under the and to force the agencies to
them of stalling the state's DeSantis said. "The lack of A spokesman from the De- program, with supporters make a determination on the
plan to import lower-cost transparency by the Biden partment of Health and Hu- saying the drugs would still plan.
prescription drugs from administration during the man Services declined to need to meet FDA standards
Canada. approval process, and failure comment, citing pending liti- and that 80% of drug ingre- The drug industry lobby,
to provide records on the gation. dients used in the U.S. are Pharmaceutical Research and
Republican Gov. Ron De- importation proposal, is cost- foreign-made now. Manufacturers of America,
Santis announced the lawsuit ing Floridians who are facing Under President Joe Biden's which had opposed Florida's
against the U.S. Department rising prices across the board landmark Inflation Reduc- In its lawsuit, Florida wrote importation plan as unsafe,
of Health and Human Ser- due to inflation." tion Act signed into law ear- that the FDA has asked for did not immediately re-
vices and Food and Drug Ad- lier this month, the federal several minor clarifications turn an emailed request and
ministration at a news con- The U.S. pharmaceutical government is set to gain the to the state's proposal and al- voicemail seeking comment
ference. industry for years has faced power to negotiate lower leged the agency is "dragging Wednesday.
complaints over high prices drug prices for seniors in its feet and protecting big

Obstruction now a major focus in Trump documents probe

(AP) — The FBI investigation back and were assured, falsely, that classified documents found not in of national defense information and
into top-secret government in- everything had been accounted for boxes but in office desks, according other documents, it is also looking
formation discovered at Mar-a- after a “diligent search.” to the Justice Department. In some into whether anyone committed ob-
Lago is zeroing in on the ques- instances, the agents and attorneys struction. It is not clear from the fil-
tion of whether former President The Justice Department issued a sub- conducting the review of seized ing how much of that inquiry might
Donald Trump’s team criminally poena in May for the records, and of- documents required additional clear- center on Trump, who has repeatedly
obstructed the probe. A new doc- ficials visited Mar-a-Lago on June 3 ances since the material was so highly insisted that his team was coopera-
ument alleges that government to collect them. When they got there, classified. tive with the FBI, versus any of his
records had been concealed and Tuesday’s department document lawyers or representatives involved
removed and that law enforce- says, they were handed by a Trump “That the FBI, in a matter of hours, in making the representations to the
ment officials were misled about lawyer a “single Redweld envelope, recovered twice as many documents department.
what was still there. double-wrapped in tape” containing with classification markings as the
documents. ‘diligent search’ that the former pres- Obstruction matters because it’s one
The allegation does not necessarily ident’s counsel and other representa- of the factors investigators look for in
mean that Trump or anyone else will A custodian for the records presented tives had weeks to perform calls into weighing whether to bring charges.
ultimately face charges. But it could a sworn certification to the officials serious question the representations For instance, in his July 2016 an-
pose the most direct legal threat to saying that “any and all responsive made in the June 3 certification and nouncement that the FBI would not
Trump and those in his orbit, in part documents” to the subpoena had casts doubt on the extent of coop- be recommending criminal charges
because the Justice Department has been located. A Trump lawyer said eration in this matter,” the document against Hillary Clinton in an inves-
historically regarded obstruction as that all records that had come from states. tigation involving handling of her
an aggravating factor that tilts in favor the White House had been held in emails, FBI Director James Comey
of bringing criminal charges involv- one location — a storage room — and The Justice Department has stated in cited the absence of obstruction as
ing the mishandling of classified in- there were none in any private space court filings that, besides investigat- one of the reasons.
formation. or other spot at the house. ing crimes related to the mishandling

“It goes to the heart of trying to sub- But the FBI came to doubt the truth
orn the very integrity of our criminal of those statements and obtained a
justice system,” said David Laufman, search warrant to return on Aug. 8.
who once oversaw the same Justice
Department counterintelligence sec- Officials had “developed evidence
tion now responsible for the Mar-a- that government records were likely
Lago investigation. concealed and removed from the
Storage Room and that efforts were
The latest Justice Department motion likely taken to obstruct the govern-
in the case is focused less on the re- ment’s investigation,” the new Justice
moval last year of classified informa- Department filing says.
tion from the White House to Mar-a-
Lago and more on the events of this In their August search, agents found
past spring and summer. That’s when classified documents not only in the
law enforcement officials tried — un- storage room but also in the former
successfully — to get all documents president’s office — including three