Astonishing: China Supplies 80% of Our Generic Drugs

I had no idea that China has a chokehold over our drug supply. Please read this article. Here is an excerpt:

The concentration of penicillin and other antibiotic production in a single country poses risks to our nation’s health security. Take the case of an antibiotic to treat life-threatening sepsis. One factory in China exploded and triggered a shortage in the U.S. and around the world.  

Chemotherapy to treat cancer isn’t immune to China’s cartel strategy. The FDA had to ban chemotherapy products from a plant in China that is a dominant global supplier. The agency had received many reports from commercial customers about products that didn’t have the right amount of active ingredient, the part of a medicine that provides therapeutic value. Too much can be overkill, too little can render it ineffective. Hospitals had to ration chemotherapies because of a shortage.   

Other essential medicines are ensnared in China’s cartels. A physician at a Boston hospital was quoted in the media recently saying he is concerned that his hospital won’t be able to perform cardiac surgery because of a shortage of a blood thinner, heparin. Once again, China is the dominant global supplier. 

As usual, our politicians and the international pharmaceutical companies (usually, benefitting from research funded by the American taxpayer) have let us down once again.