THERE IS A MOVE UNDERWAY TO ALLOW Chinese-manufactured pharmaceuticals into the U.S.
According to the move’s sponsors, the purpose if to lower the cost of medications in the U.S.
At what cost to patient’s health?
”Big Pharma” and “Big Business” obviously are against the plan. Cheap off-shore pharmaceuticals will cut into their profits. Generic drugs from outside the U.S. already take a cut from the ethical pharmaceuticals profits.
Is China any different than, say, drugs from Israel or Canada?
In a word, YES!
China has a well-deserved reputation for exporting dangerous products to the U.S. and elsewhere. To cite just a few of China’s products once sold in the U.S.:
- * Dry wall
* Fish that feed on feces
* Flammable clothing for children and adults
* Garlic grown in feces
* Tires
* Toys painted with lead-based paint>
In addition to selling unsafe products, China also steals products from other countries, including the U.S.
The main problems with Chinese products are two:
- * Total disregard for consumer safety
* Total lack of quality assurance/quality control
In order to protect Americans from Chinese disregard for consumer safety, the importers would have to do 100% sampling, and that is not possible with pills.
It might be possible if the raw drug was imported (as a power) and encapsulated by a U.S. company after each batch is sampled. Federal inspectors would need to monitor the U.S. company.
If the governments allow Chinese pharmaceuticals into the country, it also should oblige insurers to allow insureds to opt out of “Chinese generic medicines” without penalty.
Prescription pads would need a new line:
- Allow generic
Allow Chinese generic
This scrivener will be first in line to reject any medicine from China, be it Over The Counter (OTC) or prescription.
The problem is not the Chinese practitioner in the U.S.
The problem is the Chinese government and the Chinese mentality. Neither is compatible with U.S. demands.
Because of its widespread and government-approved lack of QA/QC, this scrivener tries to avoid anything “Made in China.”
- Buying anything made anywhere in the “Far East” is problematic due to the countries of origin lack of respect for workers and their lives. U.S. companies, e.g., Apple and other computer and cell phone merchants, need to force their contractors to meet U.S. worker safety requirements and they must provide on-site, unannounced inspections to assure compliance.
Could China improve?
It could; but will it?
A similar problem was encountered when Japanese products started to flood the U.S. market. (There even was a town in Japan named “USA” so Japanese products could be stamped “Made in USA.”)
Honeywell imported 35 mm SLR cameras from Pentax, a Japanese company. As the cameras arrived in the U.S., they went through Honeywell’s own QC; defective products were ejected and Honeywell’s name was safe. I owned a Honeywell Pentax H3v. I used it for years as a reporter, gave it to a friend who used if for years, and who then gave it to his son-in-law.
China CAN make quality products as evidenced by its state of the art military equipment. (Granted, most of it is a copy of someone else’s product, but improved upon.)
Military equipment is one thing; pharmaceuticals, food, clothing, etc. are another matter entirely.
Given a choice between buying a Chinese-made product or a Honduran product (as an example) I will opt for the Honduran product every time.
Remember thalidomide?
Not from China; from (then-West) Germany. It was marketed, according to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide) for use “against nausea and to alleviate morning sickness in pregnant women.” Sold over-the-counter in Germany it was blamed for a number of birth defects.
Thalidomide caused major changes to the way drugs were tested in the U.S.
Allowing Chinese medicines into the country sans rigorous testing and constant monitoring by frequently rotated U.S. government employees at the pharmaceutical site AND performing high-count sampling on drugs entering the U.S. is inviting another thalidomide.
The Chinese have repeatedly proven that they cannot be trusted to export safe products to the gullible, penny-pinching U.S. market.
The only option is to block the move to make Chinese pharmaceuticals available in the U.S.
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