We pause for this commercial interuption.
Edit of the day: Cakewrecks hilarious post
My favorite part is Jen’s comment: “What are you guys talking about? Our education system is fine. Really.”
Okay, enough editing. Here’s the original post:
The Obvious Today:
Get out there and vote! Stand inside, stand outside, join the queue, take a snack for yourself, take a snack for your toddler, do whatever you have to do. Just get on over to the polls. I can’t wait!
The Less Obvious, But Very Scary and Worth Pursuing Post-Election:
The NY Times reported yesterday that “Over the past six years, the F.D.A. has managed to inspect annually an average of just 15 of the 714 Chinese drug plants that export to the United States. At its present pace, the F.D.A. would need more than 50 years to visit all of these Chinese plants. By contrast, the F.D.A. inspects domestic drug plants every 2.7 years.”
Now we all know that melamine has been found in formula manufactured in China. We’re afraid to buy potentially tainted toys made there. But we’re importing uninspected drugs by the bazillions. (Okay, that’s not the official number, but it’s close.) Does this make sense?
The upside is that because China and other countries can manufacture drugs so inexpensively, millions of people around the world have access to drugs they wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise. However, warns Gardiner Harris in his NY Times article, “without proper regulation, some of those drugs could be either ineffective or dangerous. A 2006 study found that more than half of anti-malarial drugs sold in Southeast Asia contained no active ingredients. The World Health Organization has estimated that as much as 10 percent of pharmaceuticals sold worldwide are counterfeit or contaminated. In some poor countries, the share is more than 30 percent.”
As far as I’m concerned, any percent of contaminated or counterfeit drugs is unacceptable. If Target can figure out what I bought last week without a receipt, and the Apple Store can function without cash registers, then the FDA ought to be able to get its act together, too. Why on earth are we paying taxes out the wazoo to a government that can’t use our dollars efficiently? We work hard for that money. Shouldn’t they work hard to appropriate it properly?
I’m a fan of my good friend Nyquil and his close cousin, Advil, and I hope to not have to give either up on days when my body is desperate for relief. Shouldn’t I be able to take them without fear?
This makes me a little nervous, friends. What about you?
