#Newspaper

U.S. officials worried about Chinese control of American drug supply

//"Basically we've outsourced our entire industry to China," retired Brig. Gen. John Adams told NBC News. "That is a strategic vulnerability.”

//The vast majority of key ingredients for drugs that many Americans rely on are manufactured abroad, mostly in China.

//If China shut the door on exports of medicines and their key ingredients and raw material, U.S. hospitals and military hospitals and clinics would cease to function within months, if not days

//China could potentially "weaponize our medicines"

//"The last penicillin plant in the United States closed in 2004.”

//"China is the world's largest exporter of vitamins and antibiotic raw materials,”… ”Once the export is reduced, the medical systems of some developed countries will not work.”

//If relations decline further, the Chinese government could look for 'pressure points' where it can wield outsize leverage or force a change of U.S. policy.

//We need to move away from any country having a monopoly on the ingredients that we depend upon our antibiotics

//We have a lot of empty manufacturing facilities in the United States, and what it takes is refurbishing those with newer technology

Full Article: NBC News, (Sep 2019)
https://nbcnews.to/3cvPhIg

#US #DrugSupply #Coronavirus