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I wrote this article at Survival Podcast on September 20, 2012

INSTEAD OF, “DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE”?
IT’S “DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR MEDICINES ARE?”

You’re probably like I was, would hear or read something about medicines being made in foreign countries and you dismissed it because your prescriptions always got filled at the drug store and that was that.

Within the past six or seven months, I had three instances when they were not totally filled at Walgreens drug store, and one that wasn’t filled FOR A MONTH. The first time it wasn’t bad, was a Thursday and they would have the medicine that coming Monday and I had enough to get me to Monday. The next time, a different medicine, and it would be a week before they got it. Again, I had enough to get me to that date, but I wondered why it would take a week.

The next time, this past April, a different medicine, they put their last two pills in a bottle for me and said they wouldn’t have any more FOR A MONTH. Stop right there – this got my attention really fast and meant something and maybe those other two times meant something and I didn’t click to those when they happened as they were resolved fairly quickly.

I’ve been thinking on that since then. I remembered a number of years ago, I read something about insulin being produced in only one overseas country and none being produced here, but I didn’t need insulin, so I ignored it. Insulin was available to buy here, so no big deal. Now, it’s produced in more than one country, but none produced here that I could find. There is a reason for this.

A couple of days ago, I decided to find out “where our medicines are”. It took many hours over two days to trace medicine and to find credible sources to believe. I copied information as I would find it and I did this over and over. I didn’t copy anything someone said on a blog, because that is not credible enough. I say that so you will know I was looking for truth, not opinion.

Here is an interesting tidbit – The FDA considers the country of origin of a drug to be confidential information. I believe that to be true, because I couldn’t find the country of origin of a drug (except insulin) and I searched to do that.

I could sum this all up with this statement: “More than 80 percent of the active ingredients for drugs sold in the United States are made abroad, …mostly in facilities in China and India that are rarely visited by government inspectors, who sometimes cannot even find the plants.”

That 80% includes brand names. That was a shock as I thought brand names would be made here in the good old USA in swell, clean, hygienic, drug company plants that developed these brand names. We can also add more percentage to that 80% by adding Carolina, Puerto Rico, for manufacturing drugs for our country (an Eli Lilly large plant is there manufacturing drugs including insulin). Also, Eli Lilly has a new facility in China and their emphasis is insulin.

How did this over 80% of meds made out of our country happen?

In the extreme early days of our country, everything we ate and used was made locally. Meat animals were grown locally or shot in the forests. We did import tea from England but our patriots dumped that in the ocean one day. Before glass companies started up in New England, our dishware for the colonies were brought from England. Glass companies began early on the east coast to provide what the settlers needed. I know about early glass and china because my house is full of it and learning the history was part of that collecting.

As advancements were made in travel, food and products began to be carried to other areas. Products and food began to be shipped even to other countries. Today, you go to the grocery and see a fresh pineapple with a tag from Hawaii.

Companies were listed on the stock exchanges and making profit for stockholders became the emphasis for companies. After a period of time, communication from country to country was easier, and companies began to make spreadsheets of profits available in this country using our workers, and profits available if they moved their manufacturing to other countries as they would pay employees there less money, meaning more profit. Today, with the internet and other means, companies can keep up with their overseas locations almost as if they were there.

Profit is why your medicines are made in foreign countries.

That is where our medicines are, that is where they originate – that is brand names, generics, and over the counter meds – almost everything. If something such as regional or world war, or loss of power, or collapse of currency, caused China and/or India and/or Puerto Rico, to stop exporting to us, millions of people here would die without their heart meds, blood pressure meds, antibiotics, the list goes on. In this case, it’s not trucks stopping, it’s ships not getting to our country in the first place for whatever reason.

Insulin:
Two companies produce almost all insulin – Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk (Novo Nordisk headquarters is in Denmark – two offices in the US, can’t find any production facilities in US – the company is in 75 countries). Your insulin is made in foreign countries. As of last year, Lilly also opened a large manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico and insulin also comes from there. For interest, take a look at Eli Lilly from their website:

“We are comprised of more than 20 countries, including the United States and Japan, the world’s two largest pharmaceutical markets – along with Australia, Canada and Europe (known as the ACE region).”
“A heritage more than 135 years strong: company founded on May 10, 1876
Headquarters located in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A.
Approximately 38,000 employees worldwide
More than 7,400 employees engaged in research and development
Clinical research conducted in more than 55 countries
Research and development facilities located in eight countries
Manufacturing plants located in 13 countries
Products marketed in 125 countries”

Note manufacturing plants are located in 13 countries and I could not find one of those manufacturing plants in the USA.

Drug Safety:
I read reports that the FDA doesn’t have the manpower to go overseas often to inspect plants. I read instances where some of our drugs were contaminated in Chinese plants and Americans died due to that before the contamination was discovered.

I take 5 little pills in the morning after I eat and take another 5 little pills at night. I don’t take pills unless it is necessary, and I don’t want to be without these 10 small pills. Based on my research, they all have to come from overseas since I can’t find any made here. Also, based on my research, I wonder if one or more is contaminated? If you read the laws on inspecting drugs and read the info. put out by the FDA, your medicines are totally safe because they are inspected for quality control, etc. My comment to that is, “hogwash”. They make infrequent trips overseas to inspect but they don’t have their inspector there in all these plants all the time.

How to have drugs for a year stored:
The first time I went to my new doctor, I told him some things about myself so we could get acquainted. I said I was a “prepper”. He said, “What is a prepper?” I told him and he laughed and said, “I’ll give you a prescription for a year’s worth of medicine.”

If you ask your doctor for a prescription for a year’s worth of medicine, he/she can do that. Here is the problem: If you have insurance and use it, they aren’t going to approve paying for more than three months medicine at a time. That doesn’t mean you can’t get the medicine for that next nine months. What it means is, you have to pay the total cost of the drugs when you don’t use insurance. Not using insurance, and having the prescription, you can buy the whole nine months’ worth at one time.

Consider your medicines – which ones are critical to keep your heart beating and your blood pressure low enough you don’t have a stroke? We’re talking life and death here – which ones are critical to stay alive? Consider buying those for that nine months not using your insurance. If you can’t come up with that much money at one time, maybe you could buy two or three months at a time each month until you have all of it.

To have the max amount of meds in your house right now using insurance:
Re-fill your three month prescriptions (using insurance as usual), as soon as insurance allows - not when you have just a few pills left. That way you will have more pills available all the time.

If you are like me, I can’t keep up with when each med can be refilled. I am signed up on line with my Walgreens, and as soon as a med can be refilled, it is automatically refilled and waiting for me to pick it up. Consider doing this with your drug store if you want automatic refill as soon as it can be processed.

It is regretful our medicines are not made in this country. That is one product, one life and death product, that, in my mind, should have never left this country so it would be available and safe - even if it meant less profit.