Drug Shortage

"...The Obama administration is considering creating a government stockpile of crucial cancer medicines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already stockpile antibiotics, antidotes and other drugs needed in the event of a terrorist attack or earthquake.

Under one plan, the government would store the dry ingredients for cancer drugs and, in the face of a shortage, distribute them to hospitals, where pharmacists could mix them into injectable compounds.

Dr. Richard Schilsky, a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, said the number of cancers diagnosed in a year was easy to predict. “So we ought to be able to make a pretty good estimate of the grams required to treat every patient in the country in any given year,” he said.

Legislation proposed in both the House and the Senate would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to demand that drug makers give early warnings of possible supply disruptions. Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, said the idea behind the bipartisan bill came after she found that the agency had prevented 38 shortages last year after getting early alerts of problems at drug makers.

“I can’t say the drug companies are excited” about the proposed legislation, she said in an interview. “But we need to give the F.D.A. more time...” Full text: U.S. Scrambling to Ease Shortage of Vital Medicine

Do you want the Feds in control of your meds? Re 13:17

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste (Rahm Emanuel)."

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "I don't really know what to think about this. I do know that medications have time limits after which they begin to degrade or actually change chemically.
In a serious national emergency I would imagine that health care workers, emergency personnel and hospitals time and talent would be taken up caring for wounded citizens.
I don't know...."

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "...In a serious national emergency I would imagine that health care workers, emergency personnel and hospitals time and talent would be taken up caring for wounded citizens.  I don't know...."

Maybe leftists could tell us if "big pharma" is still too big (Eccl 10:2). These are life-saving drugs (Jn 10:10). The government should not be in the drug business (Deut. 17:18–20; 2 Sam. 5:3; 2 Chr. 23:2, 3; Jer. 34:8–11; Dan. 6:12–15, Re 13:17).

See:

Prager University: The Bigger the Government the Smaller the Citizen

Response to comment [from other]: "I totally agree, in principle. I do not like intrusive government. But we cannot count on business interests to stockpile in case of emergency. They stock, they sell, then stock more, to sell. Capitalism moves product as fast as possible..."

Let businesses be businesses without unreasonable regulations. So-called big pharma is not your enemy. Leftists don't fight real evil so they make up imaginary enemies to fight (Prager). Eccl 10:2, Jn 10:10.

"California always has their pending (Big One) earthquake, and a terrorist attack could have ugly wide-spread forms. I don't know; maybe a government stockpile would be a wise move."

They feds can't run the mail efficiently. You'd like them to get their hands on your medicine? What area of life should government not be involved in?

Drug Shortage