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Millions of Americans are taking prescription drugs made in China
and don't know it--and pharmaceutical companies are not eager to
tell them. This is a disturbing, well-researched wake-up call for
improving the current system of drug supply and manufacturing.
Several decades ago, penicillin, vitamin C, and many other
prescription and over-the-counter products were manufactured in the
United States. But with the rise of globalization, antibiotics,
antidepressants, birth control pills, blood pressure medicines,
cancer drugs, among many others are made in China and sold in the
United States. China's biggest impact on the US drug supply is
making essential ingredients for thousands of medicines found in
American homes and used in hospital intensive care units and
operating rooms. The authors convincingly argue that there are at
least two major problems with this scenario. First, it is
inherently risky for the United States to become dependent on any
one country as a source for vital medicines, especially given the
uncertainties of geopolitics. For example, if an altercation in the
South China Sea causes military personnel to be wounded, doctors
may rely upon medicines with essential ingredients made by the
adversary. Second, lapses in safety standards and quality control
in Chinese manufacturing are a risk. Citing the concerns of FDA
officials and insiders within the pharmaceutical industry, the
authors document incidents of illness and death caused by
contaminated medications that prompted reform. This probing book
examines the implications of our reliance on China on the quality
and availability of vital medicines.
With health reform enacted by the Congress and signed by the
President, the subject matter of The Treatment Trap is a compelling
component in the national debate. Taking advantage of Rosemary
Gibson's knowledge gleaned from extended experience in the field of
medical care and Janardan Singh's similar knowledge but from a
financial perspective, the authors explore the most neglected issue
in American medicine today: the overuse of medical care, including
needless surgery and other invasive procedures, out-of-control
x-ray imaging, profligate testing, and other wasteful practices
that have become routine among too many American doctors. Their
combined reporting and analysis concentrates on the human aspects
of this disturbing trend in health care, with personal experiences
that reflect poorly on hospitals as well as physicians. They show
how money spent for questionable and even useless care is diverting
major funds that could be better used to treat patients who are
genuinely sick and sometimes cannot afford the extravagant charges
of the American health-care system. Their suggestions for reforming
the delivery of health care, and their cautions to individual
consumers about how to deal with situations they may encounter,
make The Treatment Trap essential reading for medical care
consumers, health-care professionals, and policymakers alike.
Millions of Americans are taking prescription drugs made in China
and don't know it--and pharmaceutical companies are not eager to
tell them. This is a disturbing, well-researched wake-up call for
improving the current system of drug supply and manufacturing.
Several decades ago, penicillin, vitamin C, and many other
prescription and over-the-counter products were manufactured in the
United States. But with the rise of globalization, antibiotics,
antidepressants, birth control pills, blood pressure medicines,
cancer drugs, among many others are made in China and sold in the
United States. China's biggest impact on the US drug supply is
making essential ingredients for thousands of medicines found in
American homes and used in hospital intensive care units and
operating rooms. The authors convincingly argue that there are at
least two major problems with this scenario. First, it is
inherently risky for the United States to become dependent on any
one country as a source for vital medicines, especially given the
uncertainties of geopolitics. For example, if an altercation in the
South China Sea causes military personnel to be wounded, doctors
may rely upon medicines with essential ingredients made by the
adversary. Second, lapses in safety standards and quality control
in Chinese manufacturing are a risk. Citing the concerns of FDA
officials and insiders within the pharmaceutical industry, the
authors document incidents of illness and death caused by
contaminated medications that prompted reform. This probing book
examines the implications of our reliance on China on the quality
and availability of vital medicines.
As the most substantial health care reform in almost half a
century, President Obama's health care overhaul was as historic as
it was divisive. In its aftermath, the debate continues. Drawing on
decades of experience in health care policy, health care delivery
reform, and economics, Rosemary Gibson and Janardan Prasad Singh
provide a non-partisan analysis of the reform and what it means for
America and its future. The authors shine a light on truths that
have been hidden behind a raucous debate marred by political
correctness on both sides of the aisle. They show how health care
reform was enacted only with the consent of health insurance
companies, drug firms, device manufacturers, hospitals, and other
special interests that comprise the medical-industrial complex,
which gained millions of new customers with the stroke of a pen.
Health care businesses in a market-oriented system are designed to
generate revenue, which runs counter to affordable health care.
Gibson and Singh take a broader perspective on health care reform
not as a single issue but as part of the economic life of the
nation. The national debate unfolded while the banking and
financial system teetered on the brink of collapse. The authors
trace uncanny similarities between the health care industry and the
unfettered banking and financial sector. They argue that a
fast-changing global economy will have profound implications for
the country's economic security and the jobs and health care
benefits that come with it, and they predict that global
competition will shape the future of employer-provided insurance
more than the health care reform law.
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