Walmart's $4 Drugs Coming From Indian Company Whose Products Have Been Banned In US and Canada

[tbyg52]

A New Report from WakeUpWalMart.com
WakeupWalmart.com supports the use of generic prescription drugs as a safe alternative to expensive, name-brand medications. Walmart's use of a corporate bad actor to cut costs, however, deserves significant scrutiny.

Walmart is heavily promoting a program of 30-day supplies of generic drugs for $4, pointing to the program as an indicator of the company's leadership on making healthcare more affordable. To profit on $4 dollar prescriptions, Walmart is importing drugs from foreign countries, including India.<1> Walmart competitor Costco went a different direction in late 2006, when it ended its $4 dollar prescription drug plan because it was losing money selling prescription drugs at such a low price.<2> Costco switched to selling 100 pills for $10.

One of Walmart's Indian drug suppliers, Ranbaxy Laboratories, LTD, has been repeatedly investigated by the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Justice for "inadequate" safeguards against contamination, falsification of records and submitting false information to the FDA.<3> Eight months before the FDA inspected Ranbaxy's Paonta Sahib plant and found significant violations, Walmart awarded the company a "Supplier Award" for improving shipping times and performance.<4>

In 2008, the FDA banned importation of drugs manufactured at two of Ranbaxy's plants,<5> and in 2009, the FDA halted review of applications to import drugs manufactured at the Paonta Sahib plant. <6> Soon thereafter, Canada followed suit and banned importation of drugs manufactured at that facility.<7>

Yet Walmart still imports generic drugs made by Ranbaxy at its other Indian facilities.

More:
http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/ranbaxy/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Walmart has ZERO shame, ZERO.

Fuck them, and not in a good way.

Just sickening.

:puke:

[madokie]

19. I'll agree

They've pretty much ran everyone out of town around here and all they have to sell now is pretty much junk and I mean junk. I remembr when walmart came here, mid '70s, on the sign out front they were alluding to the fact that most everything in the store was made in the usa, big sign big words. Now it's rare to see anything sold by them that is made in the usa. Walmart is not a good company in any way shape or form and if there was a company that needs to go down they would be it. As you said screw 'em

[Why Syzygy]

2. Walmart sells many inferior products.

Most of them aren't this likely to kill you, however. k/r

[cabluedem]

23. Many name brand products are made to WM's inferior specifcations. nt

[Joanne98]

3. Great! I have one of those four dollar prescriptions now.

[tbyg52]

5. Sorry! Target has 'em too. 'Course, I dunno about Target, either.

I dunno about *any* corporation.....

Edited to add:

Isn't Costco a pretty good corporation, as corporations go? I think you don't even have to be a member for their prescription drugs.

Edited again to add:

Whoa. I just read my own post. So Costco found it couldn't afford $4 prescriptions? That *sure* makes me worry about my Target prescriptions. Darn. And the closest Costco is about 30 miles. I need to do more research on this, obviously.

[Vidar]

14. I'm on two of them.

[madokie]

22. I think Costco is a good company

I've read about the owner and what a fine gentleman he is and a lot of good things about his store. I wish we had a costco near here. We've been buying most of our big stuff from sears off all places. So far we've been happy with them and there are three different stores near us. Sometimes one will have something in stock that the other doesn't and when that happens the one that doesn't have it will tell you that if you drive over to this other store they have in it stock and you can buy it there, rather than try to get you to have them have it shipped to their store, where you are, so you can pay with them. I like sears for a few others reasons that I won't go into now but WALMART SUCKS!

[Spazito]

4. Just when I thought they could not be more despicable....

something like this comes out that proves me wrong yet again.

[crazylikafox]

6. wow. Thanks for info.

I know a lot of old folks that go to Walmart for these drugs. I lay off my usual anti-Walmart rant with them, because I know they do it for financial reasons. Guess I've gotta forward this to Grandma.

[Dappleganger]

7. There's a whole other side to this story.

Please go over to reddit and read up on it.

[tbyg52]

9. Link?

Edited to add:

Hellooooo? Linky-poo? Oh well - I have to go now anyway.

[Dappleganger]

12. Here you go

Sorry, I wasn't sure if it was ok to link to another website like this:
http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/8v2hl/walmarts_4_drugs_coming_from_indian_company_whose/

At first the article pissed me off as well, but after reading through all of the comments I'm inclined to think that Big Pharma is behind this more than anything. Both are evil IMO, but Big Pharma has much more to LOSE and greater resources to MISLEAD the public.

[and-justice-for-all]

26. India: U.S. Pharma Behind Ranbaxy Ban?

Indian officials say American drug lobbies pressured the FDA to ban 30 drugs from the pharma giant

By Vikas Bhardwaj and Khomba Singh
Related Items

The Union health ministry has come to the defence of Ranbaxy, alleging that vested interests were behind the US ban on 30 drugs of the Indian pharma major. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was being pressurised by political and pharma lobbies to act against Ranbaxy, a top official of the ministry said.

"The FDA never had problems with the same drugs earlier. The moment the House (US Congress) committee on trade, commerce and energy created a ruckus, FDA started having problems. All these are non-tariff barriers. There is a huge and growing market for Indian generic drugs in the US and drug lobbies there never want this to happen. Clearly, they are putting pressure on FDA. You have to understand there is a vested commercial interest in this," health secretary Naresh Dayal told ET.

This is the first time that the Indian health ministry has come out in support of the pharma major. FDA started investigation of Ranbaxy's plant in February 2006. After the US department of justice (DoJ) moved the court on July 3, the US Congress committee initiated a probe against FDA for allegedly being lax in its investigation of Ranbaxy. In the following weeks, FDA banned entry of Ranbaxy's 30 drugs manufactured at its two plants in India. The US government also stopped sourcing Ranbaxy's three anti-HIV drugs....

More: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/oct2008/gb20081017_840483.htm
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I think you ar correct saying that there is more to this then just Wal-Mart selling 'banned' meds. It seems that BigPharma(US) does not want generics sold here, at least on some meds and especially not for $4.

This article is interesting too: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/123305.php and the reasoning for the bans seems shallow to me, lame excuses to say the least. When this was going down, the pukes and shrub had control and we know how they feel about AIDS; which is what this was about to begin with. It looks like another puke job too, if people can buy cheap drugs..well, that just cuts into their pie and pukes can not have that.

Since Pukes deemed Ranbaxy as 'bad', we can surely say that it probably was not.

[Dappleganger]

28. The articles you posted are in support of a healthy skepticism of planted 'news'

by Big Pharma against the import of these otherwise proven healthy generic meds. There is a difference between 'safe' and 'effective', so don't get your panties in a twist if your generics aren't as effective.

I have NO DOUBT that Big Pharma has invaded the social networking world to spread their propaganda so that's why it's so important to double, triple and quadruple check these articles' sources. It's easy to play off of our anti-Walmart sentiments here at DU, but at least let's have a balanced view. And if it comes down to being more suspect of Big Pharma vs. Walmart, experience and common sense tells me that Big Pharma has more to lose and far more to gain than Wallyworld in all of this.

[and-justice-for-all]

35. I can see that...

that is why I did a Google on Ranbaxy, because I had no idea this was happening. It makes sense to say that BigPharma would pull this shit with Ranbaxy since it cuts into their fleecing of America.

[old mark]

8. I think that report was funded by Target. I get all my meds at Walmart, and they

are made by Mylan/USA and TEVA in Israel. I have never had any problems with any drugs I bought from Walmart, and I KNOW that both companies I mentioned sell drugs through many large chains, including CVS.


mark

[The_Casual_Observer]

10. Walmart is looking out for Walmart's best interests.

[hugo_from_TN]

30. ??

All companies look out for their best interests.
I look out for my best interests.
Obama looks out for Obama's best interest.
You look out for your best interests.

[unblock]

11. the sad thing about shrub is that now i'm equally cynical about the fda as i am about corporations

the put so many operatives into the bureaucracy with the deliberate motive to corrupt and undermine the stated purpose of those departments.

so how am i to know that the fda isn't giving a bad report about a foreign pharma company because domestic pharma companies raised a stink or made key campaign contributions?

[girl gone mad]

18. I had the same thought.

It's hard to pick sides when they're both completely corrupt.

[WhiteTara]

13. yet another reason I won't shop WallyWorld

they are animals. The Wally family are shameless and borderline criminals.

[Moondog]

15. Well that's just frickin' wonderful. The bastards.

[burning rain]

16. Just wait until Wal-Mart opens cheapy surgical theaters.

^

[Lone_Star_Dem]

17. My local H.E.B grocery has a similar program, which I use

They started it right after Wal-Mart started theirs to be competitive. I hope they're not getting their meds from the same place. :scared:

[TwixVoy]

24. They are

Target and most others with the $4 drug program get the product from the same sources.

[dysfunctional press]

20. they should switch suppliers to Prescott Pharmeceuticals...

i could start getting vaxamax.

[dflprincess]

21. Most generics come from China or India

I think of this every week when I take the generic form of Fosamax. If I want the brand name I'd have to pay the entire cost out of pocket because there is a generic available.

[and-justice-for-all]

25. 100 pills for $10.? thats a deal!!! On edit, see post #26..nt

[tbyg52]

36. Yeah, I did a 24-hour-delay triple take on that one.

Makes no sense. Should have been a red flag for me, but I thought Walmart Watch was a legit source. Heck, nowadays who knows. At least you can research stuff on the interwebs. Yeah, I betcha Big Pharma doesn't like those cheap prescriptions. And I don't trust *anything* from China.

[surrealAmerican]

27. So what exactly are the penalties for illegally importing these drugs?

... or is this a "ban" in name only?

[hugo_from_TN]

31. The OP is misleading

They are not importing banned drugs. They are importing non-banned drugs from a company that has had other drugs banned. In other words, the FDA does not have a problem with what Walmart is selling.

[jazzjunkysue]

29. Might as well get your perscription filled at a dollar store, as go to Walmart.

Honestly. People buy food at the dollar store and then eat it.

Are you kidding me?

I'll buy giftbags or plastics there, but food?

[madmom]

39. Poor people and college students don't have much choice.

[robinlynne]

32. wait a minute. I thought we were prohibited from importing foreign drugs!!!

[mullard12ax7]

33. Corporations have rights, citizens have no rights: it's called fascism

Good thing we bailed out the corrupt banks that finance all of it, now it can continue for years as long as it's backed up by corporate and government propaganda on a scale never seen in the history of the Earth.

[bluesmail]

34. Ranbaxy. Wallmart. I have something I would like to give to you

:puke:

[HopeHoops]

37. AMAZING! Something at WalMart that IS NOT made in China!

:wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow:

[marmar]

38. Wal-Mart's health care plan = Wipe out as many people as possible with toxic products.

n/t