By MOAA Staff

The use of Chinese-made materials in medications and vaccines has “the potential for catastrophic harm to our nation” and particularly to our servicemembers, a MOAA board member writes in a recent commentary published by The Hill newspaper.

“Millions of Americans ingest drugs made in China — and they likely don’t know it,” writes Rear Adm. Tom Jurkowsky, USN (Ret), in the piece. “Hundreds of thousands of physicians prescribe them; the medicines may be packaged to look like all-American products, but they are not.”

Jurkowsky’s piece highlights the security risks inherent in such a reliance on foreign-made drugs and outlines some of the work done by MOAA to address the issue via legislation. A recent piece at MOAA.org highlights some of the efforts underway, and a January piece by Rosemary Gibson offers greater insight into the issue. Gibson co-authored China Rx: Exposing the Risks of America's Dependence on China for Medicine.

[TAKE ACTION: Ask Your Lawmaker to Support Greater Oversight of Foreign-Made Drugs]

“While there are many macro forces impacting our national industrial base, the risks to the pharmaceutical sector should come under closer examination,” writes Jurkowsky, who served as the Navy’s chief of information while in uniform and was vice president for media relations at Lockheed Martin. “We must ensure that active duty, retired military and civilians have an uninterrupted supply of quality medicines.”

Learn more about the MOAA-supported Pharmaceutical Independence Long-Term Readiness Reform Act here.