China and the prescription drug trade.................

[ABikerSailor]

Just saw this on NBC nightly news this evening. They were talking about the way China has taken over the prescription drug market, currently, they supply about 80 percent of the WORLD'S drugs.

By the way, did you know that penicillin hasn't been made in America since 2004? It's all made in China now.

And, it's said that if China decided to stop supplying us with drugs and the materials to manufacture them, our hospitals would shut down in a couple of weeks. And, not only would it have an impact on the civilian population, but it could also have serious implications for our military.

Still think a trade war with China is a good thing?

U.S. officials worried about Chinese control of American drug supply

Other generic drugs whose key ingredients are manufactured in China include medicines for blood pressure medicine, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, epilepsy and depression, Gibson says.

"We can't make penicillin anymore," said Gibson. "The last penicillin plant in the United States closed in 2004."

A Chinese manipulation of drug ingredients or supply may seem like a fairly remote possibility. A state-run Chinese paper said this week that there's little chance the government would deliberately harm Americans by cutting off the flow of antibiotics.

But as the Trump administration's trade war with China heats up, a leading Chinese economist gave voice to the worst fears of U.S. policymakers in March, in a speech to an annual national congress.

"China is the world's largest exporter of vitamins and antibiotic raw materials," he said, according to an NBC News translation. "Once the export is reduced, the medical systems of some developed countries will not work."

The Pentagon has noticed.

 

[Rambunctious]

Just more the reason to crack down on China and take some of those essential industries back....

 

[ABikerSailor]

Just more the reason to crack down on China and take some of those essential industries back....

Yes, but in order to bring some of those essential industries back, you are going to have to have someone willing to invest in a factory to start making it, and most investors are unwilling to invest in something that won't show profit for a couple of years.

NBC news said that the only way that we could bring drug manufacturing back is if the government was willing to subsidy the drug companies to get them to bring back manufacturing.

It's easy to say bring the industries back, but actually doing it is something else.

 

[Rambunctious]

Yes, but in order to bring some of those essential industries back, you are going to have to have someone willing to invest in a factory to start making it, and most investors are unwilling to invest in something that won't show profit for a couple of years

Government regulation has chased them over seas so government deregulation with incentives can bring them back...but not if a democrat takes over the oval office....I hear a lot of bellyaching over Trump but they never stop to think about what will happen if he gets beat in 2020....and then we have to make our policies towards business and investment stable...if a company thinks it is only safe until the next election we will never entice them to return....get the politicians out of the board rooms.....give our American entrepreneurs the trust and power to run their own affairs....

 

[WillowTree]

I guess you better start kissing China’s ass huh?

 

[MarathonMike]

Hmmm I find this hard to believe given the sheer size of big pharma companies and the volumes of drugs they can produce.

 

[Andylusion]

Just saw this on NBC nightly news this evening. They were talking about the way China has taken over the prescription drug market, currently, they supply about 80 percent of the WORLD'S drugs.

By the way, did you know that penicillin hasn't been made in America since 2004? It's all made in China now.

And, it's said that if China decided to stop supplying us with drugs and the materials to manufacture them, our hospitals would shut down in a couple of weeks. And, not only would it have an impact on the civilian population, but it could also have serious implications for our military.

Still think a trade war with China is a good thing?

U.S. officials worried about Chinese control of American drug supply

Other generic drugs whose key ingredients are manufactured in China include medicines for blood pressure medicine, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, epilepsy and depression, Gibson says.

"We can't make penicillin anymore," said Gibson. "The last penicillin plant in the United States closed in 2004."

A Chinese manipulation of drug ingredients or supply may seem like a fairly remote possibility. A state-run Chinese paper said this week that there's little chance the government would deliberately harm Americans by cutting off the flow of antibiotics.

But as the Trump administration's trade war with China heats up, a leading Chinese economist gave voice to the worst fears of U.S. policymakers in March, in a speech to an annual national congress.

"China is the world's largest exporter of vitamins and antibiotic raw materials," he said, according to an NBC News translation. "Once the export is reduced, the medical systems of some developed countries will not work."

The Pentagon has noticed.

The irony is, I thought you were making the case FOR a trade war with China, in order to get more of these drugs manufactured in the US again.

I don't actually buy that argument, but you seem to be making the protectionist case.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Hmmm I find this hard to believe given the sheer size of big pharma companies and the volumes of drugs they can produce.

The drugs that are manufactured here by companies like Pfizer are made with raw components that come from China.

And, China makes damn near all the antibiotics we use. Penicillin hasn't been made in the USA since 2004.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Just saw this on NBC nightly news this evening. They were talking about the way China has taken over the prescription drug market, currently, they supply about 80 percent of the WORLD'S drugs.

By the way, did you know that penicillin hasn't been made in America since 2004? It's all made in China now.

And, it's said that if China decided to stop supplying us with drugs and the materials to manufacture them, our hospitals would shut down in a couple of weeks. And, not only would it have an impact on the civilian population, but it could also have serious implications for our military.

Still think a trade war with China is a good thing?

U.S. officials worried about Chinese control of American drug supply

Other generic drugs whose key ingredients are manufactured in China include medicines for blood pressure medicine, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, epilepsy and depression, Gibson says.

"We can't make penicillin anymore," said Gibson. "The last penicillin plant in the United States closed in 2004."

A Chinese manipulation of drug ingredients or supply may seem like a fairly remote possibility. A state-run Chinese paper said this week that there's little chance the government would deliberately harm Americans by cutting off the flow of antibiotics.

But as the Trump administration's trade war with China heats up, a leading Chinese economist gave voice to the worst fears of U.S. policymakers in March, in a speech to an annual national congress.

"China is the world's largest exporter of vitamins and antibiotic raw materials," he said, according to an NBC News translation. "Once the export is reduced, the medical systems of some developed countries will not work."

The Pentagon has noticed.

The irony is, I thought you were making the case FOR a trade war with China, in order to get more of these drugs manufactured in the US again.

I don't actually buy that argument, but you seem to be making the protectionist case.

A trade war isn't going to bring back drug makers. The only thing that NBC said would work is if the government subsidized the manufacturers until they could show a profit, because bringing back manufacturing would be very expensive, and most investors aren't interested because it would take too long to see a profit.

 

[Rambunctious]

Hmmm I find this hard to believe given the sheer size of big pharma companies and the volumes of drugs they can produce.

The drugs that are manufactured here by companies like Pfizer are made with raw components that come from China.

And, China makes damn near all the antibiotics we use. Penicillin hasn't been made in the USA since 2004.

That is a little frightening....who let that occur?....which leaders sat back and welcomed them to take over so many vital industries?...beginning with steel....who knows what kind of hammer they could hang over us....if they make it and we need it they call the shots....that is treasonous to allow that to happen...

 

[ABikerSailor]

Hmmm I find this hard to believe given the sheer size of big pharma companies and the volumes of drugs they can produce.

The drugs that are manufactured here by companies like Pfizer are made with raw components that come from China.

And, China makes damn near all the antibiotics we use. Penicillin hasn't been made in the USA since 2004.

That is a little frightening....who let that occur?....which leaders sat back and welcomed them to take over so many vital industries?...beginning with steel....who knows what kind of hammer they could hang over us....if they make it and we need it they call the shots....that is treasonous to allow that to happen...

It started when Nixon opened up trade with China, and US manufacturers saw they could make stuff cheaper if they shifted production from here to there.

Been happening for several decades now.

 

[Andylusion]

Just saw this on NBC nightly news this evening. They were talking about the way China has taken over the prescription drug market, currently, they supply about 80 percent of the WORLD'S drugs.

By the way, did you know that penicillin hasn't been made in America since 2004? It's all made in China now.

And, it's said that if China decided to stop supplying us with drugs and the materials to manufacture them, our hospitals would shut down in a couple of weeks. And, not only would it have an impact on the civilian population, but it could also have serious implications for our military.

Still think a trade war with China is a good thing?

U.S. officials worried about Chinese control of American drug supply

Other generic drugs whose key ingredients are manufactured in China include medicines for blood pressure medicine, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, epilepsy and depression, Gibson says.

"We can't make penicillin anymore," said Gibson. "The last penicillin plant in the United States closed in 2004."

A Chinese manipulation of drug ingredients or supply may seem like a fairly remote possibility. A state-run Chinese paper said this week that there's little chance the government would deliberately harm Americans by cutting off the flow of antibiotics.

But as the Trump administration's trade war with China heats up, a leading Chinese economist gave voice to the worst fears of U.S. policymakers in March, in a speech to an annual national congress.

"China is the world's largest exporter of vitamins and antibiotic raw materials," he said, according to an NBC News translation. "Once the export is reduced, the medical systems of some developed countries will not work."

The Pentagon has noticed.

The irony is, I thought you were making the case FOR a trade war with China, in order to get more of these drugs manufactured in the US again.

I don't actually buy that argument, but you seem to be making the protectionist case.

A trade war isn't going to bring back drug makers. The only thing that NBC said would work is if the government subsidized the manufacturers until they could show a profit, because bringing back manufacturing would be very expensive, and most investors aren't interested because it would take too long to see a profit.

NBC is full of crap.

Most investments take years to see a profit. Amazon didn't make a profit for almost a decade.

It won't take a decade to build a pill plant.

There are hundreds of examples where years on years went by with millions invested, before a profit was seen.

That said, there is obviously demand for medications in the US. If they can't import them, then they have to be made domestically.

Now the trade off is that the price for medications will drastically increase.

The only way that this won't happen, is if there are price controls, like say Medicare setting the price for medications.

If you have price controls, and they can't be imported.... then if it isn't profitable, it won't be made.

That's the only way that we end up with shortages.

 

[theHawk]

Just saw this on NBC nightly news this evening. They were talking about the way China has taken over the prescription drug market, currently, they supply about 80 percent of the WORLD'S drugs.

By the way, did you know that penicillin hasn't been made in America since 2004? It's all made in China now.

And, it's said that if China decided to stop supplying us with drugs and the materials to manufacture them, our hospitals would shut down in a couple of weeks. And, not only would it have an impact on the civilian population, but it could also have serious implications for our military.

Still think a trade war with China is a good thing?

U.S. officials worried about Chinese control of American drug supply

Other generic drugs whose key ingredients are manufactured in China include medicines for blood pressure medicine, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, epilepsy and depression, Gibson says.

"We can't make penicillin anymore," said Gibson. "The last penicillin plant in the United States closed in 2004."

A Chinese manipulation of drug ingredients or supply may seem like a fairly remote possibility. A state-run Chinese paper said this week that there's little chance the government would deliberately harm Americans by cutting off the flow of antibiotics.

But as the Trump administration's trade war with China heats up, a leading Chinese economist gave voice to the worst fears of U.S. policymakers in March, in a speech to an annual national congress.

"China is the world's largest exporter of vitamins and antibiotic raw materials," he said, according to an NBC News translation. "Once the export is reduced, the medical systems of some developed countries will not work."

The Pentagon has noticed.

Yea, why have we outsourced something as important as prescription drugs to China?

We should had never had trusted those communist bastards.

Bring those industries back to the US, or at least to other non-belligerent ally countries.

 

[Bruce_T_Laney]

Just more the reason to crack down on China and take some of those essential industries back....

Yes, but in order to bring some of those essential industries back, you are going to have to have someone willing to invest in a factory to start making it, and most investors are unwilling to invest in something that won't show profit for a couple of years.

NBC news said that the only way that we could bring drug manufacturing back is if the government was willing to subsidy the drug companies to get them to bring back manufacturing.

It's easy to say bring the industries back, but actually doing it is something else.

I am willing to bet Mexico can produce those medications and would be glad to do it...

China is a threat to our nation and I would never support allowing them making the electronic components for our military or making our prescription drugs either...

 

[rightwinger]

Just more the reason to crack down on China and take some of those essential industries back....

How does cracking down take them back?

 

[CWayne]

Just saw this on NBC nightly news this evening. They were talking about the way China has taken over the prescription drug market, currently, they supply about 80 percent of the WORLD'S drugs.

By the way, did you know that penicillin hasn't been made in America since 2004? It's all made in China now.

And, it's said that if China decided to stop supplying us with drugs and the materials to manufacture them, our hospitals would shut down in a couple of weeks. And, not only would it have an impact on the civilian population, but it could also have serious implications for our military.

Still think a trade war with China is a good thing?

U.S. officials worried about Chinese control of American drug supply

Other generic drugs whose key ingredients are manufactured in China include medicines for blood pressure medicine, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, epilepsy and depression, Gibson says.

"We can't make penicillin anymore," said Gibson. "The last penicillin plant in the United States closed in 2004."

A Chinese manipulation of drug ingredients or supply may seem like a fairly remote possibility. A state-run Chinese paper said this week that there's little chance the government would deliberately harm Americans by cutting off the flow of antibiotics.

But as the Trump administration's trade war with China heats up, a leading Chinese economist gave voice to the worst fears of U.S. policymakers in March, in a speech to an annual national congress.

"China is the world's largest exporter of vitamins and antibiotic raw materials," he said, according to an NBC News translation. "Once the export is reduced, the medical systems of some developed countries will not work."

The Pentagon has noticed.

And, it's said that if China decided to stop supplying us with drugs and the materials to manufacture them, our hospitals would shut down in a couple of weeks.

Do you consider that a red flag and a threat? If so, do you think that what we have been doing for the past 30 years is the answer to fixing this?

 

[my2¢]

I saw NBC's report, I did a Google search on the matter and came across an article that included these takes:

Gary Cohn, then chief economic advisor to President Trump, argued against a trade war with China by invoking a Department of Commerce study that found that 97 percent of all antibiotics in the United States came from China. “If you’re the Chinese and you want to really just destroy us, just stop sending us antibiotics,” he said.

While the Department of Defense only purchases a small quantity of finished pharmaceuticals from China, about 80 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used to make drugs in the United States are said to come from China and other countries like India.

When an influential Chinese economist earlier this year suggested that Beijing curb its exports of raw materials for vitamins and antibiotics as a countermeasure in the trade war with the United States, the worries surrounding our API dependence to China seemed to be vindicated.

U.S. Dependence on Pharmaceutical Products from China​