Coronavirus Outbreak Exposes China’s Monopoly on U.S. Drug, Medical Supplies

Breitbart ^ | 2/13/2020 | rebecca mansoor

[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

[bitt]

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[CaptainK]

I posted about this 3 weeks ago.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3810400/posts?page=25#25

[PGR88]

Once again Trump CORRECT.

America’s elite passed all of America’s technical and manufacturing prowess to China.

[gleeaikin]

I have heard there was once a thriving pharmaceutical industry in Puerto Rico. If we have to use cheap developing world places, lets at least use sources close to home that we have some control over.

[DoughtyOne]

Some folks were busy committing as much treason as they thought they could get away with.

I would like to think they miscalculated.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks CaptainK.

[wildcard_redneck]

if our elites get any worse we will probably have to indict, put on trial, and hang a few to correct their behavior.

[DoughtyOne]

They’re worse enough already.

I just hope Trump goes all out in his second term cleaning out all the cobwebs he’s found in the last four years.

[grey_whiskers]

Dante’s Inferno says the ninth circle of Hell, the lowest, is reserved for traitors.

[grey_whiskers]

You misspelled “everyone who ever worked for management at GE or the McKinsey Institute”, didn’t you?

[DoughtyOne]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Figures from JHU

Excel Spreadsheet / January 27th to the present

LINK

[JDoutrider]

*

[sauropod]

.

[BobL]

I know you guys know this...but remember that China supplies the United States FAR MORE than just drugs, or keyboards.

(my daughter tried buying a high-end keyboard yesterday...response was that their shipment didn’t come in, so not known delivery date)

[Western Phil]

From Wikipedia - Pharmaceutical companies originally came to Puerto Rico in the late 1960s and 1970s to take advantage of the now-expired federal tax incentive known as Section 936. This incentive allowed U.S.-based manufacturers to send all profits from local plants to stateside parent plants without having to pay any federal taxes.

It hasn’t been all that long since China got dinged for adding ground up Melmane (sp/) to pet food sold in the US for its nitrogen content. Tests for protein check for nitrogen, thus Melmane = Chinese protein. One tends to wonder what the tests for medicines from China are?

[null and void]

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

[bgill]

Trump will have 4 years to get our drug manufacturing back home. No country in their right mind should be dependent to such an extent on an enemy country.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

[blam]

I made my second 'panic buy' of antibiotics from here last night. I have bought antibiotics there (no prescription necessary) for the past 15+ years.

https://www.calvetsupply.com/

Anyway, my doctor was surprised to learn that I knew that 80% of the antibiotics consumed in this country was done so by animals. I laughed and told him that I get more antibiotics from McDonald's that I do from him.

[jimmygrace]

Just as we have secured our energy independence under Trump, we can DO this as well and we’ll be better for it.