Washington, March 12 (NationPress) The United States' reliance on China for essential raw materials and components necessary for producing many commonplace medications has raised alarms among lawmakers and specialists during a Senate hearing, labeling the situation as both a national security concern and a potential public health emergency.

The Senate Special Committee on Ageing convened on Wednesday (local time) to discuss how decades of relocating pharmaceutical manufacturing overseas have rendered the U.S. susceptible to supply chain interruptions and foreign control over critical drugs.

In his opening remarks, committee chairman Senator Rick Scott emphasized that the issue is more extensive than just a few medications. He cautioned that Americans depend on medications whose vital ingredients increasingly come from outside the nation.

“I refer to our antibiotics, diabetes medications, blood pressure treatments, and other crucial life-saving drugs available in every hospital, pharmacy, and home across this country,” Scott stated.

He attributed the issue to policy decisions made in Washington over several decades, indicating that the U.S. has allowed China to dominate significant portions of the global pharmaceutical supply chain.

“This situation arose due to negligence from Washington,” Scott remarked, noting that decision-makers prioritized lower production costs over security and dependability.

Ranking Member Senator Kirsten Gillibrand highlighted that the U.S. has become dependent on “China and India for crucial ingredients required to produce generic drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and key raw materials.”

She pointed out that various elements have fueled China’s supremacy, such as government subsidies, reduced labor costs, and lenient environmental regulations. However, she also criticized market dynamics that favor lower prices over quality.

“Manufacturers are incentivized solely by cost, neglecting quality,” Gillibrand asserted, urging Congress to empower the Food and Drug Administration to mandate compliance with U.S. safety standards among foreign manufacturers.

Former Congressman Ted Yoho indicated that China has profited from “self-inflicted wounds” within the U.S. system, citing regulatory frameworks and corporate strategies that opted for offshore production.

“China governs the global market price and supply chain,” Yoho warned, stressing that such dependence poses serious health and national security risks.

Experts also expressed concerns regarding the quality and safety of certain imported medications. Rosemary Gibson, the author of China RX, revealed that a U.S. military testing program uncovered significant quality issues in various generic drugs.

According to Gibson, this program evaluated 13 generic medications from multiple manufacturers and found that nearly 15% failed to meet basic quality criteria.

Testing also uncovered “toxins such as thallium,” alongside “arsenic, lead, and carcinogens” in specific products, she informed the committee.

Gibson cautioned that a halt in Chinese pharmaceutical exports could lead to catastrophic repercussions for the U.S. healthcare system. When asked about the consequences if China ceased exporting vital materials, she replied bluntly: “Many people would die in this country.”

Chan Harjivan, a visiting fellow at the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy, encouraged policymakers to enhance supply chain resilience instead of pursuing complete isolation from global production.

“The objective should not be total reshoring of global pharmaceutical production,” he stated. Rather, the U.S. should develop a robust network of reliable partners while preserving domestic capacity for crucial medications.

This dialogue underscored the increasing bipartisan concern in Washington regarding supply chains linked to China. Similar discussions have arisen concerning semiconductors, rare-earth elements, and medical equipment, particularly as the Covid-19 pandemic revealed vulnerabilities in global manufacturing systems.