Peter Pitt asks “Where are all the dead bodies?” in a recent post to this blog. “Have you noticed that folks in Washington, DC have stopped asking this question?” says Pitt.

Pitts has misquoted Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (a Republican) who testified before Congress in support of the re-importation of Rx drugs from Canada. In response to PhRMA’s and FDA’s criticism of re-importation as “unsafe,” Pawlenty said “My first response to that is show me the dead Canadians. Where are the dead Canadians?”

Now that re-importation of FDA-approved drugs from Canada is no longer an issue, Pitts’ focus is on the real danger: adulterated counterfeit drugs. He cited recent revelations about the possible deliberate adulteration of heparin somewhere along the supply chain, possibly in an effort to reap extra profits the same way cocaine dealers do it — by bulking up product with supposedly inactive ingredients. In the heparin case, however, the “inactive ingredient” may have been responsible for causing 81 deaths — and counting!

I say “and counting” because the FDA’s warnings about and recalls of heparin are going unheeded at many hospitals that have stocks of the product. Could it be that protecting “profit” is on their minds as well? Heparin, after all, has been a very good money maker for the health industry — including physicians and hospitals.

On top of all this we now hear that Baxter International has been accused of failing to co-operate with Chinese authorities trying to investigate the alleged heparin contamination. Baxter, in turn, points the finger at the FDA for failing to inspect the Chinese plant at the center of this brouhaha.

It seems no one wants to say “the buck stops here, we are responsible.” IMHO, if the drug industry is going overseas to produce 80% of the ingredients in our drugs, then THEY are ultimately responsible for the supply chain that THEY set up. After all, the FDA didn’t tell them to do it!