U.S. drug shortages highlight dependence on China supply chains...

An FDA official told The China Project that the agency is exploring continued importation of cisplatin and temporary importation of another cancer drug, carboplatin when asked, wouldn't provide details on plans for further temporary importation from China. The FDA's decision to import cisplatin from China demonstrates the risk of banning drugs without first building the capacity to manufacture them in the U.S. - an expensive endeavor when China makes the drugs at a lower cost due partly to an overabundance of labor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when world supply chains were disrupted, U.S. reliance on the import of drugs from China deepened despite a recent rise in tensions between Washington and Beijing. China's role in the supply chain varies drug by drug. Reasons for drug shortages are not always related to China. Recent restrictions on the Internet purchase of Adderall, and the shutdown of a factory, contributed to the shortage of the drug whose APIs are produced in India as well as in China. Neither man responded to requests for comment on recent drug shortages or American big pharma's continued reliance on China.