Posted on 02/13/2020 10:07:14 PM PST by bitt
The coronavirus outbreak has exposed the United States’ dangerous dependence on China for pharmaceutical and medical supplies, including an estimated 97 percent of all antibiotics and 80 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients needed to produce drugs in the United States.
The economic repercussions of the coronavirus reveal the dangers of allowing one country to have a near monopoly on global manufacturing, David Dayen explains in an article at the American Prospect:
China is a source of not only finished goods, but also of input parts and raw materials. A substantial number of the materials needed for defense and electronic systems come from China, and that nation is “the single or sole supplier for a number of specialty chemicals,” according to a recent Defense Department report. Rare earth minerals, which are critical to electronics, are largely mined in China. As a result, Chinese disruptions don’t just hit Chinese manufacturing, they hit everyone’s. Automakers have already had to slow or shut down factories globally due to supply shortages.
Perhaps the biggest concern is over medical supplies. China produces and exports a large amount of pharmaceuticals to the U.S., including 97 percent of all antibiotics and 80 percent of the active ingredients used to make drugs here. Penicillin, ibuprofen, and aspirin largely come from China. Last month, the medical supply firm Cardinal Health recalled 2.9 million surgical gowns “cross contaminated” at a plant in China; the blood pressure drug valsartan also saw shortages recently, thanks to tainted active ingredients at one Chinese plant. The combination of supply chain disruptions and increased demand at hospitals if coronavirus spreads to the U.S. could prove devastating.
In a dark irony, most of the world’s face masks—now ubiquitous in China as a precaution—are made in China and Taiwan, and even for those made elsewhere, some
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
I’m guessing the injection testosterone supplements that I take for low T must have components made in China, since I just renewed the prescription, but the pharmacy is out for an indefinite period of time. Fortunately, I have about 8 doses left, and I only do one dose every 2 weeks. After that, if the new supply is not in, I may effectively go back to being an old lady.
I remember in 2007 when people’s pets were getting poisoned by pet treats from China.
Which ones are good for generalized fighting of infections? I have sensitivities to some of them.
My favorite is Keflex (cephalosporin) and Doxycycline. Some other broad use antibiotics are Cipro, Amoxicillin and of course Penicilin.
Good luck
The test is, does the kickback from China allow the CEO or CFO to buy a 2nd home for his 3rd mistress?
What do you want to bet, the test equipment used to diagnose COVID-19, the Applied Biosystems 7500 Fast DX Real-Time PCR Instrument, and probably other systems that could eventually have that capability, are completely dependent on Chinese manufacturers and components? So what we have now is all we will have for the foreseeable future, and there are already not nearly enough of these systems to handle a global pandemic. There aren’t even enough to meet current demand.
If the virus spreads widely, depending only on clinical diagnosis will mean many people with other illnesses like pneumonia and flu, will end up being mixed in with COVID-19 patients, further overwhelming hospitals and likely infecting those patients.
Trump declared Steel and Aluminum to be critical to National Security to justify tariffs and reopening USA plants. He could certainly make the same case for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
It would probably be worth it to reestablish the tax incentive just to protect us from Chinese malfeasance and encourage US controlable production.
Absolutely insane of us!!!
We should be firing up manufacturing plants immediately and putting in high protective tariffs once they are up and running.
We need to end foreign entanglements like this.
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