Chairman Rick Scott, Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand Release Investigative Report Exposing America’s Dangerous Overreliance on Foreign-Made Generic Drugs, Proposing Bipartisan Policy Recommendations

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Chairman Rick Scott and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging released an investigative report titled “Protecting Seniors’ Access to Essential Medications: Securing the Foreign Generic Pharmaceutical Supply Chain.” The report focuses on America’s dangerous overreliance on foreign-made generic drugs, which are largely imported from India and China.

On September 17, Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Gillibrand held a hearing with expert witnesses exposing the national security and public health crisis caused by America’s dependence on foreign-made generic drugs and their ingredients, which are primarily made in India and China. In a second hearing on October 8, the Aging Committee again heard from expert witnesses who discussed recommendations to secure America’s pharmaceutical supply chains and ensure access to high-quality, life-saving generic drugs that millions of Americans – including those in our aging community – rely on. Chairman Scott also penned a recent op-ed for The Hill, shining a light on the threat.

Chairman Rick Scott said, “The United States’ overreliance on foreign-made generic drugs, especially those made in adversarial nations, is a very real threat to all Americans, but especially our aging population. Not only have we had many recorded cases of these imported, generic drugs being contaminated and causing death and injury, if Communist China, our adversary, or India shut off the flow of these essential drugs, the U.S. would only have months of prescription drug supply, forcing us to begin rationing drugs and turning away all but the most in need within a matter of weeks! Our seniors deserve better, and this report is just the beginning as we expose this national security and public health crisis and how to fix it by increasing Food and Drug Administration oversight and bringing generic drug production back to America. Congress has to work with the Trump administration and act now to make sure that Americans have safe and high-quality drugs and to secure the prescription drug supply chain.”

Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand said, “In the richest country in the world, our constituents shouldn’t have to worry about the safety and availability of the drugs they need to fight devastating diseases like cancer. Making sure that the supply chain for generic drugs continues to be safe and reliable is essential to protect American patients, and this report is a critical first step to that end. We must increase oversight over foreign-manufactured generic drugs through improved enforcement power and a robust Food and Drug Administration (FDA) foreign inspector workforce. We must also boost domestic production of generic drugs and investments in cutting-edge biotechnology research to make sure that all Americans have access to the high-quality medications they need. Generic drugs are a critical option to keep prescription drug prices affordable, but that cannot come at the expense of quality. As ranking member of the Senate Aging Committee, I am committed to working on bipartisan solutions to secure the prescription drug supply chain, and I encourage the Trump administration and my colleagues in Congress to work together to heed the recommendations of this report so we can protect American patients.”

Highlights of the report include:

• In 2024, the U.S. manufactured 37% of its consumed pharmaceuticals, a stark decline from 2002 when that figure was 83%.
• China accounts for 95% of U.S. imports of ibuprofen, 70% of U.S. imports of acetaminophen, and up to 45% of U.S. imports of penicillin.
• Approximately 90% of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) for global antibiotics are of Chinese origin, and 83% of the top 100 generic drugs consumed by U.S. citizens have no U.S.-based source of APIs.
• While India supplies approximately half of all generic drugs used in the U.S., Indian manufacturers rely on China for approximately 80% of the API that they use.
• According to a 2025 study, the occurrence of serious adverse events for generic drugs manufactured in India was 54% higher than for equivalent drugs that were manufactured in the United States. Adverse events were hospitalization, disability, and death.

The report also recommends the following solutions to start addressing these problems and securing safe and reliable generic drug access for all Americans:

• Establish a federal buyer’s market for essential medicines, prioritizing American made products first, and prioritizing near- and friend-shoring if American made products are not available
• Map our generic drug supply chains
• Require companies to disclose country of origin for finished pharmaceuticals
• Utilize trade levers like the administration’s 232 investigation authority
• Pass clarifying language to close loopholes that allow foreign-made products to be categorized as ‘Made in America’
• Support U.S. biotechnology

Read the full report HERE.

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