E-Newsletter

Meningitis Health Scare

Before Thanksgiving, the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing on the fungal meningitis outbreak caused by an unsterile facility in Massachusetts called the New England Compounding Center.  Sadly, there are approximately 1,415 people in Southwest Virginia who received injections made by this company, meaning they may have been exposed to fungal meningitis.  Nationwide, 34 people have died from this outbreak.  At least two of them are from our region.

As I return to Washington after Thanksgiving, I am working with other members of the subcommittee to ensure the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the necessary authority over drug manufacturers who are avoiding the manufacturing laws by pretending to be small compounding pharmacies.  In my opinion, the New England Compounding Center was in fact a drug manufacturer operating in a negligent fashion under the guise of being a compounding pharmacy.  This is necessary to enforce good standards and prosecute bad actors so that hopefully the next tragedy may be averted. 

Regulatory Relief for Community Banks

Last week, I was happy to join my colleagues in the Virginia delegation in sending a letter to the Federal Reserve, Comptroller of Currency (Treasury Department), and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) with concerns about how the capital requirements under new rules called Basel III may negatively affect Virginia’s regional and community banks.  Basel III is the latest rule from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), which is comprised of 58 central banks around the world and seeks to provide stability and predictability in the banking sector. 

While these rules could arguably be a good thing for the “too big to fail” mega banks, unfortunately, the proposal is a “one size fits all” approach that affects small community banks in the same manner that it applies to Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citibank.  We all know that community banks didn’t cause the financial crisis of a few years ago, and community banks shouldn’t be punished as if they did.  The fact of the matter is that instead of tightening restrictions on community banks, we need to allow them to lend money to small businesses and individuals to get our economy moving again. 

Consumer Alert

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a recent warning related to counterfeit airbags that may be installed in some vehicles after crashes.  NHTSA tested some of these airbags, which look very similar to the real thing, and found that the counterfeit ones “showed consistent malfunctioning ranging from non-deployment of the airbag to the expulsion of metal shrapnel during deployment.”

According to NHTSA, the only vehicles at risk are those with an airbag that has been replaced within the last three years by a non-new car dealership.  If you suspect your vehicle may be affected, please call your automaker or visit www.safercar.gov. 

As always, if you have questions, concerns, or comments, feel free to contact my office. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.

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