April 12, 2023
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
America is running out of children’s antibiotics after decades of outsourcing to China. Where is Joe Biden?
By Robert Romano
Acute shortages of orally delivered amoxicillin, penicillin and other children’s antibiotics throughout the 2022 and 2023 cold and flu season have made it difficult for doctors to treat normal childhood illnesses like ear infections, bronchitis, strep throat and rarer cases of infections caused after suffering Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and also sickle cell disease—for months.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning about the amoxicillin shortage in Oct. 2022 just at the start of the cold and flu season. But since then, no statement has been issued by President Joe Biden about what appears to be an underreported public health crisis.
When asked about the shortages on Dec. 5, 2022, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre offered that “drug shortages are not uncommon, and it’s something the administration is regularly monitoring. The FDA is always tracking shortages at the national level and works closely with manufacturers to understand their production and supply… while FDA does not manufacture drugs and cannot require a pharmaceutical company to make … more of a drug or change the distribution of a drug, FDA is in touch with the various manufacturers and stand ready to provide support … where possible.”
When asked “[a]re you considering stepping in and working with companies in any way, similar to how you all did with the baby formula shortage”, Jean-Pierre replied, “I don’t have anything more to share on — on any type of outreach.”
In other words, the White House has not been doing anything about it. No proposals to tap into the Strategic National Stockpile despite the shortages. Bipartisan legislation was introduced in 2021 in Congress to either incentivize and boost domestic production after years of outsourcing antibiotics and other pharmaceutical production to India and China, but it went nowhere after being referred to committee. Nothing has been introduced so far this year, despite the shortages.
Rosemary Gibson, Hastings Center senior advisor, in July 2019 testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission that China had driven U.S.-based antibiotics manufacturers out of business through a process of dumping subsidized antibiotics on U.S. and European markets, driving domestic manufacturers out of business: “The U.S. can no longer make penicillin. The last U.S. penicillin fermentation plant closed in 2004. Industry data reveal that Chinese companies formed a cartel, colluded to sell product on the global market at below market price, and drove all U.S. European, and Indian producers out of business. Once they gained dominant global market share, prices increased. The U.S. can no longer make generic antibiotics.”
It seems inexcusable. It could technically be made in a kitchen with moldy cantaloupe, bread or a citrus fruit. Although it is widely reported that China “controls” 80 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients, there is no global shortage of penicillium, the species of mold that is ultimately used to create penicillin and other antibiotics made from penicillin. The ingredients typically include sugar and the process involves fermentation. China does not control the world’s sugar supply, either.
There are only a few companies in the world that make penicillin used to make all other antibiotics, and three of them are in China. Another is in Austria.
And yet, the U.S. only has one authorized manufacturer of amoxicillin in the entire country left. One! USAntibiotics, based in Bristol, Tenn., founded in 1978, and which was going bankrupt in 2020 before it was thankfully bought out by Jackson Healthcare.
As it turns out that was a miracle. If that hadn’t happened, could the U.S. could have completely run out of amoxicillin this year? According to achp.org, USAntibiotics is the only company right now that has any amoxicillin available at all: “USAntibiotics has amoxicillin and clavulanate oral suspension available.”
As for the rest of them, per ashp.org: “Aurobindo refuses to provide availability information. Hikma did not provide a reason for the shortage. Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals and Micro Labs were not available to provide information. Sandoz did not provide a reason for the shortage. Teva did not provide a reason for the shortage… Wockhardt did not provide a reason for the shortage.”
In a recent letter to the editor of Beckers Hospital Review on March 14, USAntibiotics president Patrick Cashman warned, “We have expressed deep concern about the offshoring of pharmaceutical production, and continue to encourage the White House and HHS to rectify this issue. I urge the government to seek assistance in combating this problem domestically. Reliance on foreign manufacturers puts our nation at risk and Americans' lives in danger. Our 360,000-square-foot facility in Bristol, Tennessee, can produce and store every dose of Amoxicillin needed in the U.S. for the next five years. We stand ready to help solve today's problems and prevent dangerous shortages in the future.”
When the Bristol, Tenn. plant was reopening in 2021, U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) noted the importance of domestically producing penicillin: “The reconstruction of our domestic manufacturing capability for life-saving penicillin is a national imperative… Our reliance on China and foreign-sourced raw materials for antibiotic production presents a severe deficiency in the reliability of the supply chain and actively undermines our national security and public health interests.”
Thank goodness this plant was reopened but this is still insane! After Covid, dependency on foreign drugs is a well-known problem that Congress has sought to address with little effect in 2020 and 2021. Free trade has failed and isn’t delivering. And neither is Washington, D.C.
Where is Joe Biden?
In this particular case, pharmaceutical manufacturers slowed down production in 2020 and still have not increased it despite continued demand for antibiotics.
These drugs are relatively inexpensive to produce, which is why domestic manufacturers need to be protected from dumping from trade cheaters like China. We could be about to go to a hot war with China over Taiwan, and three years after Covid, we still have not fully domestically sourced penicillin, the active ingredient of which grows everywhere.
As a parent, the widespread availability of antibiotics like amoxicillin is something I take for granted when once, twice or sometimes three times a year, my daughter gets ear infections. But this time, when we went to the doctor last week with an ear infection, my daughter didn’t get any medicine. I was told to just treat the fever with ibuprofen.
This necessitated an Easter Day urgent care visit after her fever wouldn’t break (by then it had been three days). This time, the doctor (different from the first) said they had run out of amoxicillin. Finally, he prescribed cephalexin. A few days later, she’s starting to feel better. But your kid might not be so lucky when they get sick if something is not done.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2023/04/america-is-running-out-of-childrens-antibiotics-after-decades-of-outsourcing-to-china-where-is-joe-biden/
Mainstream Media Peddles Outdated Theory that Young Voters are Enthusiastic Democrats
By Manzanita Miller
A recent Vanity Fair piece trotted out the tiresome argument that while conservative activist groups like Turning Point USA and Young Americans for Freedom are popular with young people, conservatives have failed to translate that enthusiasm into votes at the ballot box.
This outdated narrative does not take into account the losses Democrats have faced with young people in recent elections – or the fact that while many young voters don’t necessarily identify as Republicans, they are increasingly wary of the far-left’s political agenda.
“For all of this organizing, conservatives just can’t seem to get young people to the polls”, writes Vanity Fair’s Caleb Ecarma. “Year after year, election after election, Republicans have been hemorrhaging voters in the 18–29 demographic—and while most pollsters, activists, and strategists on the right can agree on the urgency of the issue, no one, it seems, can settle on a solution.”
This rhetoric might be comforting for the beltway elite, but it is missing the fact that Democrats have been losing ground with younger voters in recent elections. According to exit polls, Republicans have seen gains in support from younger age groups compared to the 2018 midterm elections. The GOP gained 7 points with 18–29-year-olds and 15 points with 30-44 year-olds between midterm elections. Democrats also lost voters 40–49 outright after winning them narrowly in 2018.
What is more, former President Donald Trump's popularity has risen substantially among both Gen Z and Millennial voters. Trump’s approval rating has increased by 14 points among Gen Z and 10 points among Millennials since last fall. Among GOP/Leaners under age 30, a whopping 66% want Trump to run again, which is the highest of any age group.
In several battleground states, Gen Z voters supported Republican congressional candidates at higher rates than Millennials did. For example, in the Wisconsin Senate race last year, Ron Johnson won re-election with support from 36% of 18–24-year-olds, compared to just 24% of 25–29-year-olds. While this is by no means a blow-out victory for Johnson, it represents a 12-point difference between who Gen Z and Millennial voters supported and begs further research.
In Florida last year, while DeSantis performed well with young people overall compared to 2018, his strongest support came from the 18–24-year-old cohort. Gen Z voters supported DeSantis by 3-points more than Millennials did, and Zoomers moved to the right by four points compared to 2018.
In the Michigan Governor’s race, young people voted overwhelmingly Democrat, but voters in the 18–24-year-old cohort supported GOP candidate Tudor Dixon by five-points more than those in the 25–29-year-old cohort. In fact, Zoomers supported GOP newcomer Tudor Dixon at the highest rate of any age group under forty.
Moreover, young men remain significantly less liberal than young women, and a growing portion are rejecting the radical left’s gender ideology, even as Boomers and Gen X voters continue to uphold it.
Gallup Polling shows 44% of young women ages 18-29 identify as liberal, the highest number in two decades. However, only a quarter of young men identify as liberal.
Younger men are also rejecting liberalism and adopting reactionary views. Research out of the Southern Poverty Law Center last year warned about “right wing extremism” among young men, including Democrats. The survey found nearly half of Democrat men (47%) under age 50 believe “gender ideology has corrupted American culture” while only 20% of Democrat men over age 50 agree. Younger Democrats also admit the transgender movement is a threat to children, with 42% of younger Democrat men saying that the transgender movement is a threat to children and 40% saying it is “trying to indoctrinate children.”
A Meredith College poll from 2022 also showed while Gen Z does hold more liberal positions on issues like abortion and LGBTQ+ issues, young men hold significantly fewer liberal views than young women. Polling shows almost half of Gen Z voters want to expand abortion access, compared to just 29% of Millennials. However, that view is primarily driven by young women.
Zoomer men are much less amenable to expanding abortion access than Gen Z women. The Meredith College data also shows a significant share of Gen Z men hold a more traditional view of gender roles. Gen Z men say they prefer a male political leader at the highest rate of any age group.
Overall, these findings indicate that there is a vast generational divide among men when it comes to views on radical feminism and gender ideology. Younger voters, particularly Gen Z, are shifting towards conservative and populist views, and they reject the radical left’s gender ideology.
According to research conducted by Americans for Limited Government Foundation over the past five years, Gen Z voters are becoming more conservative and populist than their Millennial predecessors.
While Gen Z is not necessarily conservative as a whole, many young voters identify as moderates and hold views that place them at odds with the modern Democratic Party. For instance, Gen Z voters oppose globalist policies, foreign military intervention, and support an America First agenda at surprisingly high rates when these positions are not marketed as “Republican”. Additionally, Zoomers are skeptical of the college industrial complex and more likely to lean right if they forgo a four-year degree for alternative routes.
Our research shows younger voters have adopted a self-interested form of "libertarian populism" that rejects globalism and foreign intervention and favors the rule of law. This is reflected in Zoomer support for an America First philosophy, which is supported by 85% of young Republicans, 74% of young Independents, and 65% of young Democrats.
In terms of immigration policy, Gen Z rejects open borders and lawlessness, with 81% saying that immigrants must follow the rules to become citizens, even if they are difficult. Additionally, 58% of Gen Z say that if illegal immigrants cause problems, they need to leave or go through the proper procedures to stay. This stance is supported by 86% of Generation Z Republicans, 61% of Generation Z Independents, and 42% of Generation Z Democrats.
These findings suggest that Gen Z voters are emerging onto a new political playing field, and the modern Democratic Party is not necessarily the default choice like it was for Millennials. As both parties continue to shift and realign, it will be interesting to see how Gen Z's political views and preferences evolve.
Manzanita Miller is an associate analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2023/04/mainstream-media-peddles-outdated-theory-that-young-voters-are-enthusiastic-democrats/