A leader in the Defense Health Agency has acknowledged concerns that China is producing great amounts of U.S. pharmaceuticals, drugs which are used in military and veteran facilities across the country.
“We are concerned about any situation where foreign actors, including China, control substantial access to critical warfighting material,” said Christopher Priest, a deputy director at the Defense Health Agency. “The safety and sourcing of materials critical to medical support for our servicemembers, and all of the nine-and-a-half million beneficiaries for whom we are responsible, is a serious medical readiness matter.”
[RELATED: Made in China: How U.S. Dependence on Chinese Medicines and Components Could Pose a Security Threat]
Priest, a retired Army colonel, delivered these remarks July 31 on Capitol Hill at a meeting of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The commission in-part investigates national security risks related to foreign trade and provides recommendations to Congress.
The U.S. purchases of drugs from foreign countries came under scrutiny earlier this year, when the Food and Drug Administration discovered that carcinogens in generic products used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. Some of those drugs made their way to military treatment facilities, where veterans pick up their prescriptions.
Tainted meds could cripple national security and combat readiness, experts have said.
The Defense Health Agency, which is in charge of distributing prescription and life-saving medications to troops on the battlefield and veterans through treatment facilities, has been take measures to help ensure foreign-produced drugs aren’t contaminated, Priest said.
Carolyn Bartholomew, chairwoman of the 12 commissioners who has counseled Congress on U.S.-China relations, asked Priest if any information is given to pharmaceutical producers that would indicate the Defense Department is the recipient of the drugs or medical devices.
Priest said he wasn’t sure, and referred the question to DoD.
“I absolutely think that’s something to explore,” he said. “I personally don’t know whether or not the supplier or by default then, those providing the active ingredients, potentially would know it’s coming to a U.S. DoD facility to a prepositioned stop or into a level-three hospital or the aid man sitting on the front line.”
Also testifying at the hearing were scientists, and experts in foreign relations, Asia, and pharmaceuticals.
During her testimony, author Rosemary Gibson highlighted the U.S. overreliance on China’s pharmaceuticals. After the 2001 anthrax attacks, for example, the U.S. needed to purchase doxycycline from a manufacturer in Europe, but the ingredients came from China.
“We don’t make it here,” Gibson said.
Gibson wrote an article about the U.S. dependence on China for MOAA’s April edition of Military Officer magazine.
Gibson encouraged the commission to expand the industrial base for how the U.S. buys pharmaceuticals, such as giving DoD and VA facilities more flexibility in purchases. Flexibility could mean buying higher-quality pharmaceuticals at a greater cost, as well as diversifying the market of where pharmaceuticals are purchased, instead of always buying from Chinese companies, she said.
“I think the DoD and VA, if they can purchase on value, not just the cheapest price, that would be a very important consideration for force protection and combat readiness,” she said. “My understanding is there’s no law that requires DOD and VA to purchase the cheapest drug. It’s a well-intended effort to save tax payer money, but we wouldn’t have our aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines built in China and for very important medicines, we should really take a close look at what it would take to purchase based on value and not just on price.”
Amanda Dolasinski is MOAA’s staff writer. She can be reached at amandad@moaa.org. Follow her on Twitter @AmandaMOAA.
