The New York Times recently reported that, "More than 80% of the active ingredients for drugs sold in the United States are made abroad," often in rarely inspected plants in Mexico, China, India, and other countries. According to the report, the federal government and the generic drug industry have reached an agreement, which is favored to be passed in Congress, that will lead to "routine inspections of these overseas plants." If this legislation passes, makers of prescription drugs and medications will pay $300 million annually to underwrite these inspections.

This legislation, most likely, will lead to a faster drug-approval process and decrease the amount of drug recalls due to poorly inspected ingredients. Dr. Margaret Hamburg, the FDA Commissioner, said that the proposed prescription drug deal "would represent a real breakthrough." The Wall Street Journal also appears in agreement of this legislation, although other journals, such as the QLLS Street Journal, appear more skeptical, citing the Congressional testimony by FDA's center for drug evaluation director Janet Woodcock, which conceded that the FDA lacks the adequate agency manpower for regular overseas inspections of the foreign prescription drug plants.