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# Senate Amendment Seeks to Block Illicit Drug Imports
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/senate-amendment-seeks-to-block-illicit-drug-imports/
- Published: 2025-07-31T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T15:17:57.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5159608

U.S. senators **Ted Budd** (R-NC) and **Martin Heinrich** (D-NM) have introduced a bipartisan amendment to FDA’s spending bill to strengthen the agency’s ability to prevent illicit pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients from entering the U.S., particularly from unregistered manufacturing facilities in China. “These illicit products, which include unregulated versions of ingredients used in name-brand GLP-1 medicines, are often produced in facilities in China that are not always registered with the FDA and pose serious risks to American consumers, with sometimes fatal consequences,” Budd says in a [press release](https://www.budd.senate.gov/2025/07/31/sens-budd-heinrich-introduce-amendment-to-crack-down-on-illicit-anti-obesity-drugs-entering-the-u-s-from-china/?ref=fdaweb.com).

The amendment builds on a bipartisan letter, orchestrated by Rep. **Richard Hudson** (R-NC), which called on FDA commissioner **Marty Makary** to take immediate action against the growing threat of counterfeit anti-obesity medications ([see earlier story](https://www.fdaweb.com/house-reps-urge-fda-action-on-counterfeit-obesity-drugs/)).

Under the amendment, FDA would be empowered to use its full enforcement and regulatory authority to block the importation of illicit drugs. Potential actions include rejecting entry at U.S. borders, sending Warning Letters to foreign suppliers, and pursuing civil enforcement actions.