Most Americans would answer “yes” to at least one of these categories, but how many of those same Americans would know that what they’re swallowing, injecting or putting on their skin is very likely made in China?  And is that important?  For Rosemary Gibson and Janardan Prasad Singh, the answers to these questions were the inspiration for their book “China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America’s Dependence on China for Medicine.”

According to the book’s preface, “We were inspired to write ’China Rx’ while in a Starbucks™ two blocks from the White House, reading an online story in an Indian newspaper about India’s dependence on China for essential ingredients in antibiotics. India’s national security advisor warned of the risk of a severe shortage if any tension arises between the two countries.  As we talked about whether America might also be dependent upon China, we saw a man sitting next to us popping a pill while sipping his coffee. We had seen him there before and knew he worked in the White House. We leaned over and asked him what he was taking. ‘An antibiotic for strep throat,’ he replied. ‘What would you think if that pill was made in China?’ we asked. He shook his head in disbelief, mumbling, ‘Is it safe?’ We wanted to find the answer.”

According to “China Rx,” among the medications made in China and sold in the United States are HIV/AIDS drugs, antidepressants, chemotherapies, birth control pills and antibiotics, as well as Medicines for Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s.

“China’s biggest footprint, though, is making the key ingredients in prescription drugs and over-the-counter products,” the book states. “It is the dominant world supplier of the essential ingredients needed to make thousands of medicines found in American homes and used in hospital intensive care units and operating rooms.” And these Medicines include “the essential ingredients to make penicillin,” as well as “the building block to make ciprofloxacin, an anthrax antidote.”

“Medicines manufactured in Canada, Europe, India, and other countries are made with active ingredients from China, and the finished drugs make their way to the United States and elsewhere,” the book states.  “If a global shortage occurs, countries will queue up and compete for available supplies. Countries without strong safety rules are more at risk of buying contaminated and ineffective medicines.”

And this possible scenario gives China a powerful leverage, or as Guy Villax, the chief executive officer of Hovione™, a Portuguese pharmaceutical company, is quoted saying in “China Rx,” “Without question, if China stopped exporting ingredients, within months the world’s pharmacies would be pretty empty.”

Author’s bios from publisher Prometheus Books (https://www.prometheusbooks.com/):

Rosemary Gibson has been credited with creating national movements for safer, more humane health care. Her first book, “Wall of Silence,” with co-author Janardan Prasad Singh, put a human face on medical mistakes, launching a national campaign to improve the safety of America’s health care. Gibson worked with Bill Moyers on the PBS documentary ”On Our Own Terms.” She is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and is also the founding editor of a narrative series in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine. She is senior advisor at the Hastings Center and the 2014 winner of the highest honor from the American Medical Writers Association. She is also the author, with Janardan P. Singh, of three other books on health care.

Janardan Prasad Singh is economic advisor at the World Bank. He designs strategies to strengthen economic development, health care, global trade, and national security for countries around the world. He has served as an advisor to prime ministers of India on national security affairs. Formerly, he was a member of the Board of Contributors of the Wall Street Journal. 

Information and book cover image courtesy of Prometheus Books