America’s Drug Supply Depends on India and China. You Should Fix That, FDA.

Governors from 11 states have asked Congress to diversify sources to ease the shortage.

Every year, millions of Americans depend on drugs like carboplatin, a common cancer drug, and antibiotics to save their life, but that doesn't mean they're readily available. America's drug shortage problem, which has been festering for decades, has become a serious issue impacting most U.S. hospitals and their patients.
As is often the case in the health care industry, there is a complex reason but relatively simple solution for drug shortages. That fix was highlighted on Tuesday in a letter from 11 governors to Congress calling for, among other policy changes, diversifying the U.S.'s drug supply. (READ MORE: China’s 21st Century Empire Building)
The letter's signatories, which included Kristi Noem (S.D.), Sarah Sanders (Ark.), Eric Holcomb (Ind.), Kim Reynolds (Iowa), Tate Reeves (Miss.), Mike Parson (Mo.), Greg Gianforte (Mont.), Joe Lombardo (Nev.), Chris Sununu (N.H.), Greg Abbott (Texas), and Mark Gordon (Wyo.), noted that the drug shortages currently plaguing U.S. hospitals are "not new, but they are becoming more frequent and more severe." The governors expressed frustration that there hasn't been a "good explanation for why."
Their complaint may be a little tongue-in-cheek. The letter pointed out that more than 80 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) found in American prescription drugs come from China and India. "This limited supply chain creates a national security risk," they wrote, "and leaves America competing with other nations for essential resources." The governors are concerned that "the Chinese Communist Party has gained far too great of an influence over our prescription drug manufacturing."
Most American Drugs Depend on China and India
Back in 2019, the Council on Foreign Relations noted in its analysis of the ongoing shortage:
We certainly underestimate the share of APIs from China given that Chinese-made APIs can come to the United States as part of the finished drug products from countries like India. However, the lack of a rel...