<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I did a quick check on the bill HR 4972 which is to ?amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the label of drugs intended for human use to contain a parenthetical statement identifying the source of any ingredient constituting or derived from a grain or starch-containing ingredient.?

According to govtrak.us the bill has a 1% chance of passing. This is apparently partly due to the fact that the 2 sponsors are members of the Democratic party.  

To get any action we need to get the attention of the Republicans, at this point it is especially important that we get the attention of the chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. This will NOT pass out of committee without his ok. Unfortunately you cannot contact him directly unless you live in his district. So if you live in District 6 in Michigan please contact the Chairman-- Rep. Frederick ?Fred? Upton [R-MI6] http://upton.house.gov/Contact/

For the rest of us we can contact the committee via its website or by phone:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/signup/contact.shtml
Committee on Energy and Commerce
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2927
Fax: (202) 225-1919

Even with us emailing/calling I don?t know if anything will be done this year since it looks like they have already set their agenda for the next week. The following was posted to the committee?s website:

"Friday, May 04, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC ? Today, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce detailed its hearing and vote schedule for the week of May 7, 2012. Continuing its focus on protecting jobs and innovation, the Subcommittee on Health will consider and vote on legislation to reauthorize and establish various FDA user fee programs. Additionally, the committee will examine bipartisan energy legislation aimed at ensuring electric grid reliability and facilitating development of new hydropower projects. And as part of ongoing efforts to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, the committee will continue its review of administration spending, examining the Department of Health and Human Services budget. "

But even if this doesn't get passed this year it is still worth letting the committee know that there is interest in the bill since that will influence things for next year. Also contact your own congressman to try to get them to cosponsor the bill. This needs to be bipartisan rather than just sponsored by one party. Once the bill is out of committee we need to ensure that our congressman are onboard so it will get passed by the full house.  

I did email the committee indicating my interest in having this bill pass out of committee and cited several examples of how lack of this knowledge has made my life harder (like taking 3 business days to get an answer and having to get up out of bed to talk with the pharmacist within hours of major surgery to verify the gf status of medication that I needed--which could not be checked before surgery since they did not know which drugs I would need until after surgery).

Betsey 

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