The “Product Liability Du Jour” Reveals The Supply Chain From Hell.  

by Rita M.

Each and every day we purchase food and medicines that we expect to be safe for ourselves, our family and our pets.   This trust quickly erodes each time we read another news story of yet another tainted product dumped on the market. The latest product in the spotlight is a drug called Heparin, commonly used to stop or prevent blood from clotting. Recently this drug has been linked to more than 80 deaths just in the United States.   The “process” for making Heparin starts on unregulated hog farms in rural China.  Pig intestines serve as the raw material for this drug and since China slaughters more pigs than any other country in the world, it’s the chief supplier to Baxter International, the manufacture of Heparin. Read more about this story here.  
 

Family-run hog farms in rural China provide the raw material for Heparin.

Chemical structure of Heparin

It’s no wonder that breakdowns in quality control and inspections happen when you are relying on such a dubious supply chain half-way around the world.  In the last year China has been implicated in shipping other tainted and sometimes deadly products including pet food, tooth paste, fish and toys.

Mare fitted with a urine collection bag/harness contraption.  These animals are tied up each and every day for 6 months of their pregnancies without exercise. 

When it comes to another popular drug, Premarin, the supply chain is home grown, and just as disturbing.  The production of Premarin, which stands for PREgnant MARe UrINE, depends on raw material collected from gestating mares. It's sometime called Prempro, Premphase or Prempac. Estrogen is isolated from their urine and marketed as female hormone replacement therapy by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.  Mares must be pregnant in order to produce the active ingredient in this drug so countless foals have been brought into this world over the decades as a means to this end.  The foals are a “by-product” and the mothers are isolated for much of their life until they go blind or break a limb due the strain of being constantly pregnant, not unlike a dairy cow.
 

Not a pretty picture, nor a humane one.  The true crime here is that it’s totally unnecessary.  These drugs can be synthesized in the lab using chemicals instead of animal waste and organs.  And one wonders about the long-term effects of this type animal objectification and commodification.  Will taking these drugs eventually breakdown the cross-species barrier for certain viruses/pathogens?  Will it create new ones?  When we lose respect for our fellow creatures, we put ourselves in jeopardy.    
 

Change Is Needed Now!

Let’s remind the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that there are easier, more productive and humane methods of developing and testing medicines for human consumption.  Write your letter of support by using the talking points below:
 

Commissioner Dr. Mark McClellan, FDA

• Let’s reward medical researchers who find viable alternatives to animal products in our medicines.

• Now is the time for the FDA to set a new course for drug manufactures by developing a set of humane guidelines that eliminates the need for animals in research and development or animal products in drugs. 

• More oversight is need now!  Hire more inspectors to ensure the safety of products entering the US, before another family loses a loved one.

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