The U.S. has allowed another country to take over the industrial production of our medicines, with no forethought or planning for crisis.
www.theamericanconservative.com
As the world watches China grapple with an unprecedented crisis, here at home the alarm is waking up some in Washington to a shocking vulnerability in our nation’s health security. The U.S. depends on China for thousands of chemicals needed to make prescription drugs; in fact, we depend on China for 80 percent of the core components to make our generic medicines. And today, generics represent some 90 percent of all prescriptions dispensed here in the U.S.
With China on lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, industrial production to supply America’s pharmacies and medicine cabinets is at risk of interruption. With just-in-time inventories, drug shortages and a lack of availability in the coming months are very real prospects that are keeping many people up at night.