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Posted on 03/22/2008 7:30:51 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
(SHANGHAI) — China’s top drug safety agency has ordered its local bureaus to increase supervision over the production of heparin, a blood-thinning drug that has been linked to at least 19 deaths and hundreds of allergic reactions in the United States, China’s state-run news agency reported Friday.
The drug agency, the State Food and Drug Administration, said producers of the active ingredient in heparin must now obtain their raw material from registered suppliers, and it ordered the suppliers to strengthen their checks on the quality and safety of those raw ingredients.
The announcement, just hours after American officials said they had identified a contaminant in heparin from China, represents a turnabout for Chinese drug regulators. Previously, they had said they did not have oversight of large parts of the industry, and they had called on importing countries to take responsibility for ensuring heparin’s safety. China is the world’s largest supplier of the active ingredient in heparin.
With the drug agency’s announcement, and a related order from the Ministry of Commerce, the government is seeking to bring closer regulation to the heparin industry. Yet officials did not say precisely how they planned to do that, given that so much of the complex supply chain is now unregulated, from thousands of small workshops that gather the raw material from pig intestines up to chemical companies that produce the pure active ingredient in heparin.
The American company that manufactured the finished drug associated with the problems in the United States, Baxter International, has recalled virtually all its heparin products. This week, the United States Food and Drug Administration reported that active ingredients from Baxter’s Chinese supplier, Changzhou SPL, were contaminated with a cheap, unapproved ingredient modified to mimic heparin.
Investigators are still trying to determine whether the contamination was the result of......
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Don’t we make anything in America, anymore?
uh huh...
Traitors
Any increased supervision of any other products?
[crickets]
Are we so desperate to make a freaking buck that we get our drugs from China?
From article...”Much of China’s production of raw heparin begins in homes and tiny factories, where teams of three to five people transform pig intestines into a dry substance that is eventually sold to major pharmaceutical companies.”
Mmmm, seems like a safe process. /sarc
But remember, cheap pharmaceutical imports from Canada are “too dangerous”.
The question might also be...is there a Dept. in our gov.that actually does its job?? I honestly can’t think of one that doesn’t do a screw up job...whether with our borders, our food supplies, our financial dealings,...you obviously have to come to the conclusion that the welfare of the American Citizens are at the bottom of this gov. list of priorities.
May the good Lord help us if we are relying on this gov. for our safety.
Don’t we make anything in America, anymore?
“We” never have. Only genius industrialists have made things in America. And liberals\socialists have burdened companies in the U.s. with so many roadblocks, environmental laws, lawsuits, government regulations (OSHA), EPA ,taxes etc that companies can’t in the U.S. can’t compete with companies in other countries.
So soon nobody will make anything I the U.S. anymore.
I don’t understand why so many people say “We”. I’m an individualist and I don’t look to the government or “we” or anyone to solve my problems for me . I solve my own problems.
“We” seems to be the opposite of what I believe in. It seems to be a community,collectivism, socialism, liberalism or whatever name you want to give collectivism/Marxism.
I believe in individual rights, individual liberty, individuality,capitalism , limited government, deporting illegals , strong military , and most of all private property and business freedom.
Don’t we make anything in America, anymore?
“We” never have made anything. Only genius industrialists have made things in America. And liberals\socialists have burdened companies in the U.S. with so many roadblocks, environmental laws, lawsuits, government regulations (OSHA), EPA ,taxes etc that companies the U.S. can’t compete with companies in other countries.
So soon nobody will make anything I the U.S. anymore.
I don’t understand why so many people say “We”. I’m an individualist and I don’t look to the government or “we” or anyone to solve my problems for me . I solve my own problems.
“We” seems to be the opposite of what I believe in. It seems to be a community,collectivism, socialism, liberalism or whatever name you want to give collectivism/Marxism.
I believe in individual rights, individual liberty, individuality,capitalism , limited government, deporting illegals , strong military , and most of all private property and business freedom.
Well I am an individual too but I haven’t given up on America yet...as in “we the people.....”
May the good Lord help us if we are relying on this gov. for our safety.”
Finally a post on this thread that I agree with . I can't believe so many put their faith in unaccountable, evil, corrupt , incompetent government idiots for our safety and food safety and to do a better job at quality control than the free market. Incredible.
What does “We” have to do with me .Or what do you have to do with me?
I don’ t look to the government or “we the people” to solve my problems for me . I solve my own problems.
when has government done anything right. 3 trillion dollars per year federal annual budget and what do they produce for those 3 trillions. Do they stop crime, do they protect the borders, do they stop drugs? for that 3 trillion dollars per year they produce global warming studies and give many grants for ridiculous studies and to “non-profits” that “help the community(LOL).” yeah help themselves to free money . the government produces nothing for that 3 trillion except the military which is one of the 3 legitimate functions of government.
We may not like it but we must depend on our government to do their job. If you are a diabetic how are you going to get insulin? Are you capable of making it yourself? Are you trained and do you have the equipment needed to test your vial? We can and should hold our government’s feet to the fire but it’s not an either or situation.
The love of money is the root of all evil. I bought a box of Johnson & Johnson (not some weird dollar store brand) "sterile" gauze pads. Made in freaking China. Are they really sterile? Yeah, on a wound why should it matter, huh? Arrrg.
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