Chinese chemicals flow unchecked to U.S. markets

[babylonsister]

Chinese chemicals flow unchecked to market
By Walt Bogdanich
Published: October 31, 2007


MILAN: This article was reported by Walt Bogdanich, Jake Hooker and Andrew W. Lehren and written by Bogdanich.

In January, Honor International Pharmtech was accused of shipping counterfeit drugs into the United States. Even so, the Chinese chemical company — whose motto is "Thinking Much of Honor" — was openly marketing its products in October to thousands of buyers here at the world's biggest trade show for pharmaceutical ingredients.

Other Chinese chemical companies made the journey to the annual show as well, including one manufacturer recently accused by American authorities of supplying steroids to illegal underground labs and another whose representative was arrested at the 2006 trade show for patent violations. Also attending were two exporters owned by China's government that had sold poison mislabeled as a drug ingredient, which killed nearly 200 people and injured countless others in Haiti and in Panama.

Yet another chemical company, Orient Pacific International, reserved an exhibition booth in Milan, but its owner, Kevin Xu, could not attend. He was in a Houston jail on charges of selling counterfeit medicine for schizophrenia, prostate cancer, blood clots and Alzheimer's disease, among other maladies.

While these companies hardly represent all of the nearly 500 Chinese exhibitors, more than from any other country, they do point to a deeper problem: Pharmaceutical ingredients exported from China are often made by chemical companies that are neither certified nor inspected by Chinese drug regulators, The New York Times has found.

Because the chemical companies are not required to meet even minimal drug-manufacturing standards, there is little to stop them from exporting unapproved, adulterated or counterfeit ingredients. The substandard formulations made from those ingredients often end up in pharmacies in developing countries and for sale on the Internet, where more Americans are turning for cheap medicine.

more...

http://iht.com/articles/2007/10/31/asia/31chemical.php

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. But it's illegal for old people to get cheaper drugs from Canada

because it wouldn't be safe. :sarcasm:

[emilyg]

2. $$$$$$

[babylonsister]

4. Twisted, isn't it. But the pharmas wouldn't make money that way. nt

[tiptoe]

3. Caveat Emptor: "...how well American consumers are being protected from unsafe imported drugs, ..."

...
Wang Siqing, managing director of the Changzhou Yabang Pharmaceutical Company, estimated that uncertified chemical companies make half the active pharmaceutical ingredients sold in China. "The stuff produced by chemical plants is clearly counterfeit medicine, but they aren't investigating," Wang said in an interview at his office. "This has been happening in a regulatory void." He added that most chemical company exports go to unregulated markets in Africa or South America. "That's not to say these products don't enter the United States through these other countries," he said.

To find out how well American consumers are being protected from unsafe imported drugs, investigators from the House Energy and Commerce Committee recently accompanied FDA officials on inspections of drug plants in China and India.

In a letter to the FDA commissioner, the committee said that the agency was unable to provide such basic information as the number of firms exporting to the United States, and that overseas FDA inspectors lacked necessary logistical support. A House hearing on FDA oversight of foreign drug manufacturers is scheduled for Thursday.

"China alone has more than 700 firms making drug products for the U.S., yet the F.D.A. has resources to conduct only about 20 inspections a year in China," said Representative John Dingell, the Michigan Democrat who is the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The FDA said it would answer the committee's questions at the hearing.
...

Another "angle" for precaution as long as FDA remains under-funded under pro-corporate, vulgar pro-deregulation Neocon *Co: Farmed Fish and Shellfish products from China, Vietnam, Thailand, etc ... Find them at your local Cerebrus-owned supermarkets, like Save-Marts and Lucky (formerly Albertson's in Northern California until this year). See Monterey Bay Aquarium: Seafood WATCH for Best   Good   Avoid Ratings advisories on 70+ seafood products by region and methods of production. (I ceased ordering the Fish Tacos at one restaurant, when I inquired where its Tilapia originated and the likely production methods, after noticing the same product in a local Lucky and its "Made in..." label.)

Re the capitalistic practices of private equity firms like Blackstone, Carlyle Group, and Cerebrus (and why low-cost product lines from Asia are likely appearing in the latter's supermarkets): Read and/or see Bill Moyers Journal September 28 interview with Vanguard's John Bogle.

Every week we hear of another publicly traded company being bought by a private equity firm. Some of those investment firms — like Blackstone, the Carlyle Group, and Cerebrus — have become almost as well known as the brand-name companies they've been snapping up, from Chrysler to Dunkin' Donuts to Toys R Us. But private equity firms have no real interest in toys, cars, or baked goods. What they are after is big and quick returns on their capital. To get it, they buy a company and cut the wages, pensions and health benefits of the employees who work there. ...

[tiptoe]

5. kick