Where our meds are made

[Rianne]

I ran across this article regarding where our meds are made. It summarizes the change in our pharmaceutical industry and where our pills/meds are made today. I find this info scary and should be addressed by our representatives in DC.



https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2018/09/10/do-you-have-any-idea-where-your-pills-are-made/

 

[pb4uski]

I could care less where my pills are made. I do care about cost and quality, but you can make them on the moon for all that I care.

 

[timo2]

I wouldn't have cared before, but with the trade war, who knows if the meds will be cut off or get a big price increase.

 

[Bir48die]

As person with life long anxiety, this isn't a subject that I will be worrying about.

 

[Plantman]

I could care less where my pills are made. I do care about cost and quality, but you can make them on the moon for all that I care.

I believe that is where the new ones are developed, seeing as how the prices are so astronomical.

 

[MichaelB]

Is this podcast different than this one? http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/prescription-drugs-made-in-china-93211.html

 

[Lukeee]

I could care less where my pills are made. I do care about cost and quality, but you can make them on the moon for all that I care.

Totally agree

I have a prescription, a topical med. $300+ our of pocket here after insurance. But I get a refill when on vacation for $20 with no insurance subsidy etc rom another developed country. exact same packaging etc.

 

[Chuckanut]

Totally agree

I have a prescription, a topical med. $300+ our of pocket here after insurance. But I get a refill when on vacation for $20 with no insurance subsidy etc rom another developed country. exact same packaging etc.

If the critics are right, both were probably made in the same foreign country. The price difference is not based upon where they were made but where they are sold. And there is little FDA supervision to make sure the foreign made meds are what they are supposed to be.

China is immediately suspect since some of their companies seem to have no problem feeding adulterated baby formula to their own children, selling BP meds with a probable carcinogen in them, and providing sub-standard vaccines to their own people. Not so good.

 

[audreyh1]

If the critics are right, both were probably made in the same foreign country. The price difference is not based upon where they were made but where they are sold. And there is little FDA supervision to make sure the foreign made meds are what they are supposed to be.

China is immediately suspect since some of their companies seem to have no problem feeding adulterated baby formula to their own children, selling BP meds with a probable carcinogen in them, and providing sub-standard vaccines to their own people. Not so good.

Yeah - on the one hand we are not allowed to import our prescriptions, but on the other, the companies selling drugs at high prices to us are allowed to import them from the same countries they warn about buying them from.

 

[MRG]

Yeah - on the one hand we are not allowed to import our prescriptions, but on the other, the companies selling drugs at high prices to us are allowed to import them from the same countries they warn about buying them from.

+1000

It's honestly a joke on us!

 

[Rianne]

I could care less where my pills are made. I do care about cost and quality, but you can make them on the moon for all that I care.

Follow up article in Medscape regarding additives in prescription meds. FDA cannot force pharma companies to comply or recall. Seems that tainted ingredients come from China and other countries. Pharma does not test for quality. Pharmatech in Florida showing bad rep. Article from Jan. 7, 2019.


https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/907263

 

[Sunset]

I could care less where my pills are made. I do care about cost and quality, but you can make them on the moon for all that I care.

Problem is, location and quality do go hand in hand, when following the law.

Certain countries have no law, or super lax laws (by health and quality standards), so drugs made in those countries can legitimately be made using expired or diluted ingredients or bulked up with carcinogenic materials or industrial building materials like gypsum.

 

[Rianne]

Problem is, location and quality do go hand in hand, when following the law.

Certain countries have no law, or super lax laws (by health and quality standards), so drugs made in those countries can legitimately be made using expired or diluted ingredients or bulked up with carcinogenic materials or industrial building materials like gypsum.

And they send them to our pharma co. who distribute to us!

 

[pb4uski]

Follow up article in Medscape regarding additives in prescription meds. FDA cannot force pharma companies to comply or recall. Seems that tainted ingredients come from China and other countries. Pharma does not test for quality. Pharmatech in Florida showing bad rep. Article from Jan. 7, 2019.


https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/907263

Behind paywall... but I'm pretty sure that the FDA has enforcement power to make sure that any drugs manufactured outside the US that are imported to the US meet US standards.

 

[pb4uski]

Problem is, location and quality do go hand in hand, when following the law. ...

So you are claiming that all drugs manufactured outside the US are inferior?

If not, they you concede that some drugs manufactured outside the US would meet US standards?

Unless you are claiming that all drungs manufacture outs the US are inferior, you can't at time same time say that that location and quality go hand in hand.

 

[Sunset]

So you are claiming that all drugs manufactured outside the US are inferior?

No.

If not, they you concede that some drugs manufactured outside the US would meet US standards?

Yes, some drugs produced outside the country could even be better than US standards.

Unless you are claiming that all drungs manufacture outs the US are inferior, you can't at time same time say that that location and quality go hand in hand.

I can claim that location and quality of drugs are related, as there are many places outside the US and the laws in those individual countries vary tremendously.

You seem to think there is a homogeneous "outside the US" , when in fact there are approximately 195 countries outside the US.

Assuming the drug manufacturer follows their own country laws as an example in the extreme, I would believe drugs made in Canada, are safer than drugs made in North Korea. (note this example is extreme as US companies are not allowed to import drugs made in North Korea).

 

[pb4uski]

...You seem to think there is a homogeneous "outside the US" ...

Where did I say or even infer that?

 

[Rianne]

So you are claiming that all drugs manufactured outside the US are inferior?

If not, they you concede that some drugs manufactured outside the US would meet US standards?

Unless you are claiming that all drungs manufacture outs the US are inferior, you can't at time same time say that that location and quality go hand in hand.

Not the intent of the post. The Medscape article and NPR podcast are alarming. In the big scheme of things, I'm sure everything we eat and drink has something in it we weren't aware of. I think of the massive food production facilities where millions of units of food/beverage produced, I'm sure mouse parts, Lord knows what can fall into these vats and no one even realizes.

 

[RobbieB]

I know that Kaiser got a bad batch of BP meds from China because they informed me and directed me to have a blood draw to verify potassium levels.

 

[Sunset]

I ran across this article regarding where our meds are made. It summarizes the change in our pharmaceutical industry and where our pills/meds are made today. I find this info scary and should be addressed by our representatives in DC.

https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2018/09/10/do-you-have-any-idea-where-your-pills-are-made/

Even when the FDA knows where the drugs are made, or the ingredients that go into the drugs are made, they barely do anything,

Now this link is old from 2007, but from within the drug industry.

https://camargopharma.com/2007/11/foreign-inspections-by-fda/

"The US General Accounting Office (GAO) criticised what it concluded is a lack of FDA inspection of foreign API and finished dosage form manufacturers. This has received a lot of coverage in the lay and professional press, especially since a huge increase in API’s is coming from China; FDA has only 13 inspections scheduled in China, a country with over 700 drug manufacturers."

So by my quick calculations, 1 inspection at each plant will only take the FDA 53.8 YEARS to check them all in China, assuming no new companies start up..

 

[brett]

It is not just where the drugs are made.

It is also a case of where the ingredients in the manufacturing process come from and what QA processes exist in those plants.

 

[Beldar]

I think of the massive food production facilities where millions of units of food/beverage produced, I'm sure mouse parts, Lord knows what can fall into these vats and no one even realizes.

DW used to w*rk in a related industry (laboratory environment) and was well aware of what is in the "food" we eat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Food_Defect_Action_Levels (There may be other equally gory references)

I suspect there may be similar standards for impurities in prescription meds (not my bag though).

_B

 

[mamadogmamacat]

Contamination, whether from source ingredients or in the manufacturing process, can happen anywhere. And testing a limited sample, which is all i believe is required, no matter where the drug comes from, be it foreign or domestic, will not catch all issues.

For me the bigger problem is single sourcing. Which is what happened last summer with my BP med. I was taking the possibly contaminated Valsarten for a couple months before Express Scripts was able to get a replacement, which was not even the same drug, but was Losartan, which has proven to not be as good at controlling my BP.