Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

PumpkinAle

(1,210 posts)
Thu Mar 6, 2014, 07:59 PM Mar 2014

Do you know where your drugs come from?

As the FDA is now trying to work with India on pharmaceuticals and legitimacy this tidbit came out......

Chinese authorities know—and the United States knows—that China is the main source of ingredients for many drugs needed in the U.S. medical industry.

A key pre-FSMA report came from the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission in April 2010.

The report painted a dire picture of China’s own system to ensure the safety of its products, saying, “China’s health and safety regime for export products is fragmented and ineffective.”

At that time, 94.1 percent of the antibiotic tetracycline came from China, as did 74 percent of streptomycin, and close to 60 percent of ibuprofen, used in Advil and Motrin. China is also the global leader in manufacturing acetaminophen, an ingredient in Tylenol and Benadryl.

For the moment, as long as China is the main source for pharmaceuticals that Americans can’t live without, it knows there is little the United States can do.
-----
Interesting and alarming read at:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/546850-pharma-supply-scrutiny-in-india-and-china-could-tip-scales/

4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

Cleita

(75,480 posts)
1. I know some of the generic brands I use are from China. I have no choice because
Thu Mar 6, 2014, 08:03 PM
Mar 2014

I'm on fixed income and can't afford pricier pain killers. So I use them and cross my fingers. So far so good.

marble falls

(57,077 posts)
2. Because, hey, what the fuck could possibly go wrong, right? In a couple of years we can ask them ...
Thu Mar 6, 2014, 08:07 PM
Mar 2014

about how they like deregulation now.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
3. All of generic scripts are from India....and one was a fake drug.
Thu Mar 6, 2014, 08:09 PM
Mar 2014

I refilled one script, generic, and found it had zero affect. This, after a couple of years of taking the drug.
So I checked the label against the older label, and found it was from a different provider in India than my previous meds.
Called the dr. and told her, got a re-fill, and made sure the pharmacy only used the maker I had been using.
Told them it did not work, but I know they blew it off.

Other than that, no problems and the price of generics has been a huge blessing to my getting thinner all the time
wallet.

misterhighwasted

(9,148 posts)
4. Wait There's More..THIS from one year ago. Toxic Medicine Capsules
Thu Mar 6, 2014, 08:26 PM
Mar 2014
http://www.china.org.cn/china/2012-04/19/content_25183150.htm

Police have detained nine more people at two factories that supplied toxic industrial gelatin to drug capsule producers, local authorities said yesterday.

(snip) Police in east China's Zhejiang Province previously arrested 23 people who allegedly produced and sold pharmaceutical capsules made from industrial gelatin, which contains excessive levels of chromium.

Seven of the nine newly announced suspects worked at the Xueyang Glair Gelatin Factory in Fucheng County in the northern province of Hebei, the Xinhua news agency reported. The factory's owner, Song Xunjie, was detained on Monday on suspicion of arson, as he allegedly set fire to his plant to destroy evidence following a Sunday report by China Central Television that said his plant provided industrial gelatin to a capsule producer in Zhejiang.

(snip) Two capsule companies - Zhuokang Capsule Co Ltd and Huaxing Capsule Plant - were exposed by the CCTV program of producing capsules with industrial gelatin, which contains a much higher degree of chromium than edible gelatin.

---------------------

Though this crackdown was a year ago I still cannot swallow gel nor plastic medicine/vitamin capsules. I'll find a tablet variety. Why don't I trust the safety of anything produced in China..and now the USA is shipping our chickens there to be processed..hmm. Again, what could ever go wrong with that idea.
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Do you know where your dr...