Thompson发誓要在邮局增加警备(下)
The committee was forced to meet in a conference room at HHS headquarters near Capitol Hill because of the closure of congressional offices for ongoing anthrax testing.
Thompson said that CDC would "act quickly" to test all facilities along a contaminated letter's path, should officials discover more letters.
"If we even remotely suspect that an anthrax-tainted letter may have passed through a facility, we're going to get there to test the facility and make the appropriate treatment available to those who may have been exposed," he said.
CDC has faced criticism for not testing mail facilities in Washington until Thursday. Officials have said that they had no reason to believe that anthrax spores could pass through a sealed envelope, thus obviating the need to sweep Postal Service mailrooms.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) defended health officials' methods in dealing with the anthrax threat in Washington. "There's a steep learning curve here," he said.
House lawmakers also criticized Cipro manufacturer Bayer AG for aggressively defending its patent on the anti-anthrax drug while the US government moves to purchase mass quantities of antibiotics for its national pharmaceutical stockpile.
"It is incumbent upon our government to tell the pharmaceutical industry that they can forget about their profits, that we need that product...at a cost that is affordable to individuals and to the United States government," said Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-VT).
Thompson has said that he lacks the authority to order a suspension of Bayer's patent on Cipro, known generically as ciprofloxacin. But he said that Bush administration officials do not intend to pay inflated prices for the drug.
"I made that crystal clear to Bayer that we will not accept the price they offered and we will be negotiating this afternoon," Thompson said.
Bayer's American pharmaceutical division did not return calls by press time., 百拇医药
Thompson said that CDC would "act quickly" to test all facilities along a contaminated letter's path, should officials discover more letters.
"If we even remotely suspect that an anthrax-tainted letter may have passed through a facility, we're going to get there to test the facility and make the appropriate treatment available to those who may have been exposed," he said.
CDC has faced criticism for not testing mail facilities in Washington until Thursday. Officials have said that they had no reason to believe that anthrax spores could pass through a sealed envelope, thus obviating the need to sweep Postal Service mailrooms.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) defended health officials' methods in dealing with the anthrax threat in Washington. "There's a steep learning curve here," he said.
House lawmakers also criticized Cipro manufacturer Bayer AG for aggressively defending its patent on the anti-anthrax drug while the US government moves to purchase mass quantities of antibiotics for its national pharmaceutical stockpile.
"It is incumbent upon our government to tell the pharmaceutical industry that they can forget about their profits, that we need that product...at a cost that is affordable to individuals and to the United States government," said Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-VT).
Thompson has said that he lacks the authority to order a suspension of Bayer's patent on Cipro, known generically as ciprofloxacin. But he said that Bush administration officials do not intend to pay inflated prices for the drug.
"I made that crystal clear to Bayer that we will not accept the price they offered and we will be negotiating this afternoon," Thompson said.
Bayer's American pharmaceutical division did not return calls by press time., 百拇医药