China – Soon to Be the Drug Kingpin

The Wall Street Journal has outlined for the world the rapidly expanding Chinese drug market. Many of the ingredients in brand-name drugs people already take come from China. China is already the largest producer of chemicals for drugs. For example, AstaZeneca's Seroquel, a powerful anti-psychotic medication that is routinely (and inappropriately) prescribed in an off-label manner to children for mild behavior issues is produced with chemicals that come from China.

The FDA has now approved the first Chinese company to produce finished pills for distribution in the US market, opening what will inevitably be a floodgate of generic medicines coming from China (most of them currently come from India). In 2012 Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co. of China will be able to market a generic version of the AIDS drug nevirapine (Viramune). The FDA just visited the company, teaching them how to properly wash their equipment.

The Chinese pharmaceutical industry is riddled with scandal, recently requiring the execution of the former head of the Chinese FDA. The FDA is inept at monitoring the safety of drugs Americans currently take. How can the FDA possibly monitor the safety of Chinese drugs?