It's not enough that we have had to contend with antifreeze toothpaste, poison dog food, date rape toys and formaldehyde candies, now worry about your medicine cabinet.
The medicine cabinet in the average U.S. home is filling with drugs made in China , and some experts say that could be a prescription for trouble.
China's booming pharmaceutical industry has doubled exports to the United States in the past five years, undercutting competitors and making American consumers reliant on the safety of Chinese factories and captive to any disruptions in Sino-U.S. commerce.
It might seem like merely a trade issue. But industry experts in Europe and the United States say national-security concerns are edging into the debate.
I wonder why this is occurring. Could it be this?
The Chinese and Indian companies are all but exempt from oversight by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration .
"Only 13 inspections were conducted in China in 2007," Rep. John Dingell , a Michigan Democrat who chairs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said at a hearing Nov. 1 . "At this rate, it would take the FDA 55 years just to clear this backlog."
By giving China a virtual pass on FDA inspections, Acker said, Chinese firms get a cost savings of about 25 percent above American companies, which face unannounced on-site inspections at any time.
I encourage you to read the whole article. It is a testament to the failure of this globalized system of 'free trade' and 'open markets'. When consumer safety is relegated to the back burner in the drive for ever increasing profits, we all lose in the end.
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