China: Just read that China produces and ships... - PMRGCAuk

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Gary1310 profile image
41 Replies

Just read that China produces and ships Prednisone. It is not inspected or controlled. How do we know the quality of this medication.....now I am concerned.

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Gary1310
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41 Replies

We should be concerned, very concerned !

Linny3 profile image
Linny3

We just went over this issue with my husbands dr. He had medicine made in china that got recalled. I guess we are at the mercy of the makers. Makes me really mad that our manufacturers went to china where there is little to no oversight. All in the name of money!

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310 in reply to Linny3

We are trying to control our PMR pain with .5 mg changes in dose, yet the manufacturer is not inspected, has no controls. I also read the Chinese also produce the generic form of Lipitor, which I have taken for over 10 yrs. Wonder now if it contributed to my PMR.

in reply to Gary1310

But you have been steadily reducing having been DX in January and you are in single figures? So the pred must be working for you.

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310 in reply to

Thank you, Yes, I am doing well. I wonder about the many years that I was on Atvorststatin and if it could have contributed to my PMR. Did not even consider that it could have come from China.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Gary1310

A statin contributing to PMR has nothing to do with it coming from China!

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310 in reply to PMRpro

Ideally, .... that would be true.

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS

Are you sure the brand you get is manufactured in China?

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310 in reply to HeronNS

No...but they do produce Prednisone and I understand most our meds are coming from China.

yogabonnie profile image
yogabonnie

How can we tell if what we take is made in china

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310 in reply to yogabonnie

I just Googled it.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to yogabonnie

The only option might be to speak to your pharmacist. Just because China makes a drug doesn't mean that is where YOURS comes from. Medications are made under licence all over the world.

gifford7 profile image
gifford7

The FDA inspects generic drugs used in the US. see:

gabionline.net/Generics/Gen...

" A statement released by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responds to recent press reports of quality issues and outlines the Agency’s ongoing efforts to maintain the quality of generic drugs manufactured both in the US and overseas................................

3. FDA also inspects facilities abroad, especially in China and India

• FDA maintains global vigilance using a risk-based inspection strategy, i.e. resources are focused on higher risk facilities.

• The number of inspections in China have decreased, while inspections in India have increased from 2017–18.

• The FDA’s strategy for prioritising inspections is based on several factors including compliance history, recall trends, time since last inspection and risk level of the drug being manufactured. "

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310 in reply to gifford7

Personally, I think it worrisome that such an important item is out sourced to China, India etc. We are dependent on our Meds for strategic as well as catastrophic reasons. Nice that FDA monitors...sounds good, but.....

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Gary1310

It is globalisation - no single country could make all the medical supplies it would need so like everything else it is outsourced.

Gary, this is a worry to everyone but please be very careful when considering ordering Medication On Line. There will be unscrupulous opportunists taking advantage of worried people concerned over perceived Medicine Shortages.

Do you always use the same Pharmacist, if so go & see them to discuss your worries re Medication Shortages.

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310 in reply to

Thank you. I live in Michigan and my Rheumatologist is at Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin. I get my prescription filled in Marshfield, which is a first class, wonderful Clinic. They can not send a refill across State lines, the law. I get refills from my Blue Cross Ins., provider, OptumRx., a mail order pharmacy. They are very large and I think reliable.

From what I recently read, most of all our meds come from China.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador

That is a problem if you purchase it online - but certainly within the UK and the rest of Europe the supplies are monitored both during the manufacturing process and post-delivery. If a batch is found to be problematic it is recalled immediately - that happened recently with something. As gifford has said, the FDA does monitor all generics.

A bigger problem is when people decide Chinese medicine is the answer and claim it is steroid-free. Checks of Chinese products used in TCM have shown they often contain large amounts of steroids - unmonitored so potentially contaminated and at doses far higher than required. No wonder they achieve massive improvements in pain!

piglette profile image
piglette in reply to PMRpro

Not to mention the myriad of supplements which cost a fortune and may do nothing or perhaps could be really nasty.........! No checks.

healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...

DorsetLady profile image
DorsetLadyPMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to

Gary1310 is in US.

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310

PS...also read that if a label says manufactured in the U.S. it is often misleading. That the powder is brought in from China and simply pressed into pills. Not acceptable .

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to Gary1310

If the pills are manufactured in a western country with strict quality control I'd have thought they'd be fine. You got me quite concerned so I looked up my particular version of pred. I live in Canada. My pills are licensed to a very large company headquartered in Canada which employs 5,000 Canadians at 20 plants and manufactures 300 different medicines which are exported to 100 countries worldwide, the US being the largest customer, of course.

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310 in reply to HeronNS

I would e OK with Prednisone from Canada.

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to Gary1310

So maybe that's where yours is coming from!

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310 in reply to HeronNS

.....I will try to do some research. Who would have thought we would need to worry about our meds, here in the US.

in reply to Gary1310

I am afraid you are at least 70 years too late to start to be concerned about the impact of globalisation, just in time production and so on on USA trade.

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310 in reply to

..better late than never. I never had PMR before...never dependent on a med!

in reply to Gary1310

We will have to think of more than meds in the future..well perhaps not us and the current over 30s. China is buying millions of acres of arable land in subsaharan Africa. It is planning to ensure its citizens have food for generations.

Linny3 profile image
Linny3 in reply to HeronNS

However as

Gary1310 has said, they could be getting the powder from China to make the pills.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Linny3

But if that WERE the case, the powder would be carefully analysed before being pressed to tablets.

Also, the other misleading label is "distributed in the United States". A bit scary to me.

Linny3 profile image
Linny3

I am going to do a little more research on my Rayos. I think it comes from Germany.

We went thru the losartan recall and it came out of China. Apparently there is a by product in it that was hazardous.

PMRpro profile image
PMRproAmbassador in reply to Linny3

As far as I know, Rayos/Lodotra is manufactured either in Germany (it was developed by a German company) or in France.

gp2u.com.au/static/pdf/L/LO...

However - Horizon Pharma , now Horizontherapeutics, with a head office in Dublin, rebrands and repackages drugs for the US.

horizontherapeutics.com/

Blearyeyed profile image
Blearyeyed

If you are getting your US prescriptions from authorised clinics and on prescription via official pharmacies they get their supplies of medications from producers whose manufacture and ingredients are properly regulated by the FDA .

The Manufacturing companies are regulated , and even if the raw materials are bought in as supplies from China or any other overseas exporter , the quality of those ingredients is strictly checked , and the quality of the finished product is also inspected by the FDA to make sure it conforms within regulations.

The problem only really arises if you get your medications from pharmacies on buy online from drug companies whose supply is not strictly supervised.

If you choose to do that , or your product brand changes , and seems to have translation labels added to the product packet and box , that is usually the only time you need to check your supply .

Query it with the pharmacy and either use it and check whether you find a change in symptoms and so then it you need to return it and request your usual brand, or if you aren't confident in trying it , ask for a replacement of your usual brand straight away.

If you keep to the brands , no matter which country they were originally produced in , that were originally supplied to you by your Clinic or GP, and which you know you have no problems with , you shouldn't have any need for anxiety about changes in the reliability of your medications.

in reply to Blearyeyed

Yep.

Linny3 profile image
Linny3 in reply to

My husbands meds were from a reputable company. CVS Caremark. and yet they were tainted and recalled. He was on them for a very long time before the problem was caught. They came from China. His Dr. said there is a lot of problems with overseas drugs.

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to Linny3

Yikes. americanmanufacturing.org/b...

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310 in reply to Linny3

Hope all is well now, it never should have happened!.....Are Chinese Pharmaceutical Companies liable?

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310

HeronNS Thank You for the wonderful article above. It is very concerning to be dependent on a med, and wonder about it’s safety. I don’t think we have much choice at this point. We need the med but becoming aware of it’s source is wise, in my humble opinion. “Ignorance is bliss”, The more information we have, the better choices we can make........let’s hope our politicians wake up to this concern.

Gary1310 profile image
Gary1310

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