How's Tom Friedman's Flat World working out now? Not sure this would affect any drugs used by PCa patients, but it definitely bears watching. From the article:
Roughly 80% of active ingredients used by commercial sources to produce finished medicines come from China, Christopher Priest, deputy assistant director at the U.S. Defense Health Agency, said in testimony given last July to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
This view reflects the fact that the overall market for prescription drugs consists of brand-name and generic medicines. Again, data is lacking on the volume of ingredients from China that reach the U.S. But a growing number of Indian generic makers purchase ingredients from China. In fact, the Indian government is trying to find ways for its domestic industry to become less reliant on Chinese suppliers.
There are implications here for consumers elsewhere — and the possibilities can be seen by playing connect the dots. In the U.S., for instance, medicines imported from India account for 40% of all generics used. And roughly 90% of all prescriptions written in the U.S. are for generics. The upshot: An untold amount of ingredients made in China are finding their way to U.S. medicine cabinets.
‘The time to worry is now’: The coronavirus in China could threaten pharma’s ingredient sourcing - STAT - January 27, 2020
Something else to keep our eyes on in regards to treatments ....The Coronavirus is disrupting things and that is for sure...The whole world is on alert..... Limited number of cases here and if China gets it contained quickly, then supplies should hold steady... Watching this one closely...
Nal, What gets under my skin is the all-pervasive direct-to-consumer advertising that our fine government allowed drug companies to start doing many years ago. (The US and New Zealand are the only countries that allow it for prescription drugs.) Now most pharma cos are spending considerably more money on marketing than they are on research - So, much of the cost for the over-priced drugs is due to them trying to convince the consumer they NEED their over-priced meds. Good scam, esp when the guys & gals in DC give you free-reign to run it.
I also seem to remember that the AMA came out with a statement a few years ago that said they opposed direct-to-consumer drug ads. Well, where the heck was the AMA when the legislation was being passed. As is often said to be the case, "We have the best government money can buy."
Be Well -cujoe
PS I just heard yesterday that "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli was being investigated for anti-trust violation for actions to prevent the introduction of a generic for his company's antiparasitic drug Daraprim - which he purchased and then raised its price by a factor of 56 (from US$13.5 to $750 per pill.) Maybe that will extend his time in jail and take whatever money he still has left in fines. Better late, than never - I guess? One down, many more to go.
Agree with you....Shkrelli needs to be put in a cell forever... Profiteering off the sick is amoral ... I guess they can still look at themselves in the mirror, but they really should face the people damaged by such rampant behavior in this industry...All IMHO...
Indeed, how many die because they can not afford the drugs since the CEO needs to make that huge bonus at year end.. Can you say.... Epipen? A classic example of a system gone wrong... the CEO of Mylan is Senator Joe Manchin's daughter who makes the Epipen... and that is JUST ONE example... How many poor kids families can not afford the Epipen ?? or poor dudes that run out of the medicines like Zytiga or Xtandi on the assistance programs and then are screwed...
The number of cases in China is suppose to peak by Feb 8th. The country was put on lock-down about 8 days ago. The incubation period for the virus is about 2 weeks. Doing the math, by about Feb 8th, the Chinese CDC will know who most of the infected people are, and can then treat them.
I do wonder if the Chinese are reporting accurately...we are now at 170 dead and over 8,000 cases and a cruise ship in isolation...the number of cases has doubled in a few days, and I think we will be at 12-16,000 cases in 3 days....
As luck would have it, my lady friend is visiting her family in China. She has been holed up in her apartment in Chengdu for 9 days now. We chat several times a day on WeChat.
Chengdu has a population of about 8 million. It’s about the size of NYC. The streets are almost deserted. As of today, Chengdu has 69 diagnosed cases and 1 death from the corona virus.
Nationally, China has about 15,000 suspected cases and 183 reported deaths. From this I have two observations. China is figuring out how to successfully treat reported cases, and this epidemic will probably not be as bad as SARS.
To keep it in perspective, the United States will have a about 8200 deaths from the flu this season....and about 33,000 deaths from prostate cancer this year. 😟
I hope your lady friend remains OK, Murph... I think they are doing what they can... At one point, they projected 1 in 4 would die who got the virus and we are way below that number.... unless something changes drastically, this will be like some of the other "bugs" that were supposed to be of worry. I believe that Pca is the second leading cause of death in the US for men...Nice to have a cure for that...
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