Alex Berezow

Opinion Contributor

When the coronavirus pandemic slows and allows us to catch a breath — both literally and figuratively — there will be an international reckoning that likely will end with China bearing the brunt of the blame. In order to force China to implement adequate safety standards, we should stop importing essential items, especially food, medicine and medical equipment, until the country proves that it can be a responsible member of the global community.

We had plenty of advance warning that China was capable of infecting or poisoning the world. In 2002, the first terrifying coronavirus pandemic, caused by the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus, erupted in Guangdong province. It circled the globe, killing 774 people.

In 2007, the United States issued recalls covering dozens of toys made in China, some of which were coated in lead paint. Other toys posed choking hazards. One toy, a “floating eyeball,” was filled with kerosene, and in 2013, a child in Spokane, Washington, was injured when that chemical leaked out of a similar toy into his own eye.

From pet food to pharmaceutical ingredients

Also in 2007, Chinese pet food across America was recalled for containing melamine, a nitrogenous compound that serves as an adulterant to make food appear as though it contains more protein than it actually does. Melamine causes kidney failure, and adulterated pet food killed at least 13 cats and a dog in the United States.

In 2008, the Food and Drug Administration said the crucial, lifesaving drug heparin — which is used to prevent blood clots and treat patients suffering from a heart attack — contained a contaminant that could trigger fatal allergic reactions. The contaminated drug was linked to over 100 deaths since early 2007.

Also, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, China is the primary source of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-like substances — commonly abused opiates — in America. (Fentanyl is a synthetic analgesic that is 30-50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.)

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That brings us to today. Similar to the SARS outbreak, China has exported another novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which causes the illness called COVID-19. This time, China also exported coronavirus testing kits that don’t work. Moreover, given that much of the world's supply of masks and respirators, along with other materials essential for health care, comes from manufacturers in China (or did, before the pandemic), one has to wonder whether those products meet required performance standards.

Americans deserve to know what they are purchasing

This situation reveals a weak link in the global supply chain that supports everyday health care in hospitals around the world. As Dr. Henry Miller explains, drugs are the sector of greatest vulnerability because China is the world's largest producer and exporter of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used to manufacture drugs.

A report from the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission concludes that APIs are produced there without sufficient quality control. It’s not as if we can avoid these faulty drugs. When American consumers go to the pharmacy or supermarket, they are allowed no choice in the matter because drug companies are not required to list the country of origin for APIs on labels. Thus, the report says, "U.S. consumers may be unknowingly accepting risks associated with drugs originating from China.”

But surely drugs produced in China must be well regulated? Actually, no. The report also notes that “China’s regulatory apparatus is inadequately resourced to oversee thousands of Chinese drug manufacturers.” Worse, the report says, the China FDA rejected 80% of drug clinical trial programs in 2016 due to fraud or incomplete data.

By comparison, Dr. Miller writes that the percentage would likely be in the single digits in the United States and Europe.

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Unfortunately, the U.S. FDA doesn’t help much. The commission's report observes that the agency deploys far too few inspectors to China to provide proper oversight. As a result, the report’s bottom line is that Americans are “at risk of exposure to contaminated and dangerous medicines.”

Paradoxically, an outright ban won’t work either, because that would create a drug shortage.

The policy implications are clear. Although it would be economically unfeasible and undesirable to ban all Chinese food and drug imports, we should begin the process of moving supply chains out of China and into countries (perhaps our own) that have — and enforce — appropriate safety and quality standards. The COVID-19 pandemic has proved that some goods, like medicine and medical devices, are too strategically important to outsource to untrustworthy actors. In the short term, getting U.S. regulators to do their job at ensuring the integrity of imported drugs would be an essential start.

Alex Berezow, is a Ph.D. microbiologist, vice president at the American Council on Science and Health, an analyst with Geopolitical Futures and a member of the USA TODAY Board of Contributors. Follow him on Twitter: @AlexBerezow