Terrifying Facts about our Prescription Drugs

Posted on March 20, 2020March 20, 2020 by Denise Simon

Congress, the FDA and the Pentagon is well aware of how tainted many of the drugs from China.

Priest, a retired Army colonel, delivered these remarks July 31 on Capitol Hill at a meeting of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. The commission in-part investigates national security risks related to foreign trade and provides recommendations to Congress.

The U.S. purchases of drugs from foreign countries came under scrutiny earlier this year, when the Food and Drug Administration discovered that carcinogens in generic products used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. Some of those drugs made their way to military treatment facilities, where veterans pick up their prescriptions.

The 10 most prescribed drugs are found here.

Made in China: new and potentially lifesaving drugs - SFGate source

The common debate on Capitol Hill has been the cost of prescription drugs, when the 800 lb. gorilla in the room has been uncontrolled ingredients in over-the-counter drugs as well as prescription that legislators have known about but ignored. The same debate continues with medical devices manufactured in China. The United States does not even produce vitamin C. Yeesh, and China has been called a drug cartel of distinction because of trafficking fentanyl.

Communist China controls 80% of American drugs - Metro ...

GoodRx, commercials often seen on TV to save money by using their APP recently published the following about bizarre ingredients:

1) Gold

Gold, of course, has been used for thousands of years in jewelry, but few know that it has therapeutic properties. Today, we have the oral anti-inflammatory medication, Ridaura (auranofin), which is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Likewise, an injectable gold known as gold sodium thiomalate (GST) is injected weekly or monthly into joints to treat arthritis. Fancy.

2) Saliva of a Gila monster

Ok, that’s slightly misleading. Exenatide, the active ingredient in Byetta and Bydureon, and an important medicine to control blood sugar in diabetics, is a man-made form of a protein found in the saliva of the Gila monster, a poisonous lizard native to the southwestern United States. Still weird.

3) Urine from pregnant horses

Premarin, a medication used as hormone replacement therapy to treat symptoms of menopause, comes from estrogen hormones isolated from pregnant horse urine. Yep.

4) Rooster combs

Synvisc and Synvisc-One (Hylan G-F 20), injectable medications given for knee arthritis to provide pain relief for up to six months, both contain hyaluronan, which is made from chicken combs. Hyaluronan makes joint fluid more flexible and fluid, so there’s better shock absorption in the knee. Cock-a-doodle-doo.

5) Poop

“Fecal pills”, used in fecal microbiota transplantations (FMTs), are capsules containing frozen bacteria collected from the stool of donor patients. Fecal pills taken orally have been shown to be 96% effective in treating C. diff diarrhea. A truly hard pill to swallow.

6) Formaldehyde

Yes, you heard that right. Formaldehyde, the main ingredient in embalming fluid and a common substance in household cleaning products, is used in medicine. Hiprex, which contains methenamine, is making a resurgence in popularity as an effective medication for preventing recurrent urinary tract infections. And methenamine works when it’s converted in urine to formaldehyde, the same chemical we use to embalm dead bodies.

7) Fish

While not exactly gross, the contribution of marine life to medicines is worth mentioning. Lovaza, the only pharmaceutical-grade fish oil on the market, is used to lower triglycerides, a type of fat found in your blood that can increase your risk of heart disease at high enough levels. The oils in cooked masses of fish are separated from the solids—and that’s how you get Lovaza. Ok, not so bad.

8) Urine from postmenopausal women

The urine of postmenopausal women is in many follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) preparations, including Repronex and Bravelle, which are used to treat infertility. Unlike donated blood, where the donation can be traced to one donor, these medications are made with pooled urine from multiple donors, so there’s some concern over safety. That’s why Follistim, which contains synthetic FSH is a good alternative. Pools of urine.

9) Pig pancreas

Creon (pancrelipase) is made from the pancreas of pigs and is available only with a prescription. Creon is used in patients who lack full pancreatic functionality, whether because of cystic fibrosis, chronic pancreatitis, type 1 diabetes or removal of the pancreas. Oink.

10) Pig thyroid gland

Armour thyroid comes from the dried out thyroid glands of pigs. Armour thyroid is prescribed for underactive thyroid, or hypothyroidism, and is less tightly regulated than Synthroid, a manufactured form of thyroid hormone. Oink take 2.

Setting aside for a moment how the United States has in recent days complained about China’s lack of cooperation with the United States over COVID-19, other nations have as well. Just a few day ago, the UK published an immediate report stating that China was to blame and noted that the lack of truth from China has caused the global health crisis.

So, there is an immediate movement authorized by President Trump to fast track domestic manufacture production of many top medicines not only for treating COVID-19 but other most prescribed drugs as well. The FDA is fast tracking several variations of chloroquine, which has several names including Aralen,Plaquenil or Avigan already used to treat COVID-19. Yes, however, this comes from China as well. In fact Wuhan and Shenzhen treated coronavirus patients with favipiravir with excellent success, meaning patient’s tests are negative just after 3-4 days.

***

Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) introduced legislation Thursday to repatriate pharmaceutical manufacturing from China to America, aiming to reduce a dependency that could seriously limit the U.S. coronavirus response.

The bill, which Cotton introduced with Rep. Mike Gallagher (R., Wis.), aims to severely curtail the volume of Chinese active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from the U.S. medical drug supply. The PRC currently produces most of the world’s APIs—the “active ingredients” in commonly used drugs—leaving the United States and other nations critically dependent on it for medicines.

Cotton’s is just the latest proposal to onshore pharmaceutical supply chains, including a similar one from Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) and rumblings from the White House about a “buy American” executive order. Prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, many are beginning to see the cost-savings from Chinese-made pharmaceuticals as not worth the risk of undersupply during another pandemic, or during a potential conflict with America’s main geostrategic rival. More here.

Are Voters this Stupid when it Comes to Bernie Sanders?

Posted on February 3, 2020February 3, 2020 by Denise Simon

The legislators on the Left are always voting for laws that protect us from ourselves, taking away independent thought and decisions. It is a double edge sword for sure, some people need others to make decisions for them.

Laws where an individual’s behavior hurts others in all forms does have some merit…but c’mon Bernie and the same goes for Vermont and Iowa or any Bernie voters across the nation.

Bernie Sanders raises $3.3 million in first 10 hours after ...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) in his first-ever campaign for the Senate made the legalization of all drug use one of the cornerstones of his policy platform.

Recruited in a 1972 special election as the Senate candidate for Vermont’s Liberty Union Party, Sanders promised that if elected, “All laws relating to prohibition of abortion, birth control, homosexual relations, and the use of drugs would be done away with,” the Rutland Daily Herald reported in December 1971.

“In a free society, individuals and not government have the right to decide what is best for their own lives, as long as their actions do not harm others,” Sanders said during the campaign for the seat he would eventually win in 2006. (source)

***

As the DEA explained in its 2019 National Drug Threat Assessment, also released Thursday, most synthetic opioids are produced in China and Mexico; methamphetamine and heroin are primarily Mexican, and much cocaine is produced in Colombia. All of the drugs are routinely smuggled over the porous southwestern border or, in the case of Chinese goods, sent in using the U.S. mail.

“We’re pleased that in 2018, drug overdose deaths declined over 4 percent overall, with even greater decreases—over 13 percent—in overdoses from controlled prescription opioids,” DEA acting administrator Uttam Dhillon said Thursday. “Many challenges remain, however, including the spread of fentanyl and methamphetamine across the country. DEA and its partners will continue to work diligently to combat the drug trafficking organizations that bring these deadly substances into our country and endanger the American people.”

As the drug crisis changes shape, lawmakers continue to struggle over how best to combat it. On Wednesday evening, the House of Representatives finally passed an extension of the DEA’s temporary scheduling of fentanyl’s synthetic analogs, giving law enforcement another year to prosecute traffickers in substances like acetyl fentanyl and carfentanil under the strictest section of the Controlled Substances Act. Eighty-six House Democrats, however, objected, with several taking to the floor to argue that a “public health” approach is preferable to the incarceration of drug dealers. (source)

***

Since fentanyl and carfentinil can be absorbed through the skin, eyes, or respiratory system, there is a very real danger for secondary exposures for firefighters and EMS personnel from drug residue on a patient’s clothing, furniture, and even carpeting. There have been numerous documented cases in the United States of firefighters and EMS personnel experiencing respiratory distress and other overdose symptoms after coming into incidental contact with fentanyl and carfentinil residue in the course of providing patient care. The lethality and ease of coming into contact with the drug underscores the need for firefighters and EMS personnel to exercise extreme caution when responding to suspected opioid-related calls. All responders should be careful to appropriately don and doff any personal protective equipment selected for use when responding to these calls.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently published a handbook and roll call video to educate first responders on the dangers presented by fentanyl and carfentinil. Fire chiefs should work closely with their medical directors to review this information and design protocols to protect firefighters and EMS personnel from exposures to these dangerous narcotics. Fire chiefs also should maintain regular contact with their law enforcement partners to understand which narcotics may be most prevalent in their communities. (source)

*** Has Bernie explained any of that? Not so much. Consider the real destruction of the thousands and thousands of the narcotic generation and the labor output competition with other nations.

Bernie sees the “War on Drugs” as a costly, destructive, and ineffective policy. Current drug laws have not worked. After spending billions of dollars and destroying millions of lives, there has been no real decrease in drug accessibility or use, as evidenced by the opioid epidemic, the rising rates of heroin use, and the scourge of meth. Bernie believes treatment, not punishment, is the answer, and he’s repeatedly introduced legislation to extensively reform the criminal justice system along these lines.

War on Drugs: The fifty year war on drugs is a failed policy that has led to mass incarceration of nonviolent offenders and has unfairly targeted people of color.

Treatment for Drug Offenders: Nonviolent drug offenders should not be incarcerated. Instead, they should have access to affordable treatment to address their drug dependencies.

Legalize Marijuana: Marijuana ought to be legalized.

Addressing the Heroin and Opioid Epidemics : Heroin and opioid abuse is at epidemic levels, and the U.S. is not addressing the crisis with the urgency and seriousness that is required. We must address this crisis by providing resources, proper treatment and healthcare professionals to the communities struggling with this epidemic.

Here’s a link to Bernie’s plan to legalize marijuana and his comprehensive plan, Justice and Safety for All, to reform the criminal justice system.

CBP 2019 Report on Travel and Trade

Posted on January 30, 2020January 30, 2020 by Denise Simon

If you don’t think that Customs and Border Protection is needed and is quite busy, take a look at this report. Then consider what CBP just can’t get to because of lack of resources. At least this changes the topic for a short while from impeachment…

WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection released its annual Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 trade and travel report today. According to the report, CBP personnel processed $2.7 trillion of imports and 410 million travelers in FY 2019.

The “Trade and Travel Fiscal Year 2019 Report” describes CBP’s essential role in promoting economic growth and ensuring that the United States maintains its place as the world’s top destination for tourism and business travel. CBP leveraged innovative technologies and programs to further streamline lawful trade and travel while enhancing security.

“CBP continues to make lawful trade and travel more efficient and convenient while protecting the American people and our domestic industries” said Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan. “We could not accomplish this critical mission without the 31,000 dedicated CBP officers, specialists and mission support staff who work hard every day to make our nation safer and more prosperous.”

In FY 2019, CBP further reduced import processing times by modernizing the Automated Commercial Environment, an electronic import-export system, and by expanding the use of non-intrusive inspection technology (NII). The use of NII generates up to $17.5 billion in economic benefits for the trade community and up to $1 billion in government cost savings every year.

CBP simultaneously took decisive action to safeguard America’s domestic industries against unfair competition and to protect American consumers from counterfeit and unsafe imports. In FY 2019, CBP:

Collected $80.7 billion in duties, taxes, and other fees. That figure included $71.9 billion in duties, a 73 percent annual increase;

Began enforcing 33 new anti-dumping/countervailing duty orders while recovering more than $121 million in duties owed, a nearly 86% annual increase;

Initiated 36 Enforce and Protect Act investigations into allegations of large-scale, highly-coordinated duty evasion schemes; and

Launched an innovative e-commerce data pilot with industry partners to secure low-value shipments bound for the United States.

CBP is also responsible for identifying and containing emerging and rapidly-evolving biological threats to American agriculture and consumers. CBP agriculture specialists intercepted more than 56,000 harmful pests and more than 1.75 million prohibited plant materials, meats and animal byproducts during import and traveler inspections last year.

In addition to fulfilling its trade mission, CBP continued to facilitate lawful travel while maintaining the highest possible security standards. CBP processed 135.7 million international air travelers in FY 2019, representing a 32.8% increase over the past six years. Over the same period of time, CBP reduced average wait times at the nation’s top 25 international airports by 17.8%.

CBP and its partners also continued to implement biometric facial comparison technology at air, land and sea ports of entry. This technology enables CBP to fulfill Congressional mandates while enhancing security, facilitating lawful travel and protecting the privacy of all travelers.

CBP expanded existing initiatives to meet its goal of developing a travel system that is secure, straightforward, efficient and best-in-class. In FY 2019, CBP:

Enrolled more than 1.1 million new members in Trusted Traveler Programs, which expedite the entry of pre-approved, low-risk travelers;

Processed more than 21.5 million travelers through Preclearance, a program that enables CBP to deploy personnel overseas to inspect travelers before they board U.S.-bound flights; and

Selected 38 new public and private sector partners for the Reimbursable Services Program, a program that enabled CBP to process an additional 2.1 million travelers and 213,000 vehicles.

Democrats Cant be Trusted with Intelligence Briefings

Posted on January 10, 2020January 10, 2020 by Denise Simon

This site on May of 2018, wrote a piece regarding John Kerry’s global shadow foreign policy operations. His organization is called Diplomacy Works. Two areas of concentration for John Kerry via his organization since he launched it in 2017 are Iran and North Korea.

On his team of over 50 people are: Jeremy Ben-Ami, President of J Street and a former Clinton advisor, former Ambassador for Qatar, Dana Smith Shell, who also worked for Clinton and Kerry. Then there is Antony Blinken who is a former US Deputy Secretary of State and former National Security Advisor; former Ambassador Nicholas Burns who worked for Hillary; former Senator Tom Daschle; Jonathan Finer, former policy planner at the US State Department; Michele Flournoy, Juan Gonzalez, a special advisor to VP Joe Biden; Avril Haines, former Deputy National Secruity Advisor to Obama; Dr. Colin Kahl, former Special Assistant to President Obama and VP Joe Biden; Robert Malley, former Special Assistant to the Obama White House; Jen Psaki, former Obama White House communications director; former Ambassador Wendy Sherman to name a few.

Sounds like all Deep Staters….right? They are.

So with America just off the 2-3 year Mueller investigation, with continued lawsuits against policy decisions from the Trump White House, with constant leaks that came from not only the FBI and members of Congress to the media including the Washington Post and the New York Times and then the leak of the leak to the pesky whistle-blower about a phone call that launched the impeachment adventure, no one inside the Trump White House should trust anyone inside the Beltway.

Past working relationships from the Obama administration go on to be renewed relationships in new and often obscure places and such continues to be true with the names listed above. Take for example the name above Jonathan Winer….he at one point was special envoy to Libya and assistant secretary of state for international law under John Kerry. If his name is rather familiar, it should be. He and Christopher Steele are old pals from 2009. He too got his hands of the dossier summary and conferred with Victoria Nuland and Sidney Blumenthal.

Then there is Wendy Sherman, that when working for John Kerry was assigned as the North Korea Policy coordinator. Prior to that, Sherman directed the 1988 Democratic National Committee. She also did stints at Emily’s List, for former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, as president of Fannie Mae Foundation and even was a foreign policy advisor to Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign.

Kinda wonder now about those deep state relationships right? If you care to understand just one more among John Kerry’s team, let’s look at Robert Malley. He is a lawyer and most of all a communist sympathizer. Yup, a real anti-semite and in 2008 held meetings with Hamas. In 2014, the Obama administration named Malley to the National Security Council to work with Susan Rice as an expert on the Middle East.

So, when it comes to covert military operations such as that of the drone strike killing Qassim Soleimani and the failed strike in Yemen to take out the other Quds Force commander, Abdul Reza Shala’i who commands the Houthis, would you advise the Gang of 8 or others in Congress?

By the way, directly after the strike to kill Soleimani, Trump dispatched a back channel message via the Swiss embassy to Iran to NOT ESCALATE. Well, Iran did.

The failed strike was first reported by the Washington Post…hummm, how did they know? Shala’i does need to meet a drone as he leads the commanders in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. Remember how those missiles and drones from Yemen strike Saudi Arabian targets?

The United States has a $15 million bounty on him. Shala’i directed the plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington DC in 2011.

photo

This was a plot right out of Hollywood actually that included an Iranian-American used car salesman and resident of Texas names Manssor Arbabsiar who has a cousin high up in the Quds Force named…wait for it….Abdul Reza Shahla’i. The assassination by the way paid well if successful, $1.5 million. (criminal complaint found here)

This was a plot right here in our homeland…those Democrats overlook the connections including Soleimani….

Did we Forget Freedom Fighters Around the World?

Posted on December 19, 2019December 19, 2019 by Denise Simon

The country is still in collapse and Maduro remains in power. Question is why? Beyond Venezuela, there is Bolivia, Chile, Columbia and even Ecuador where tyranny and socialism is being protested.

Image result for protests in latin america photo Miami Herald

Image result for protests in iran photo The Atlantic
A quick review for Latin America is looking much like the freedom fighters in Hong Kong, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

* Two months after Chile lurched from an illusory calm to a fiery outburst of rage, there is still no sign that life is about to return to normal. After an agreement last month between political parties, the country will next year hold a referendum on drafting a new constitution – one of the protesters’ main demands.

But widespread anger still simmers over inequality, social exclusion and the high cost of education and healthcare. Demonstrators continue to gather across the country every day, and violence often erupts at nightfall.

Chileans have found themselves in a state of uncertainty – suspended between hopes of progress, and frustration over a political solution which seems beyond reach.

* In Columbia: The number of FARC dissidents now stands at around 3,000 combatants, already accounting for more than 20 percent of the 13,000 FARC members who demobilized. This number continues to grow and is likely to keep growing in the short and medium-term. While there are no indications that the ex-FARC mafia will ever reach the numbers of the FARC prior to demobilization, it is clear that the dissident elements are a threat to national security and could become more than just a localized threat within Colombia.

Faith in the FARC Peace Process – This is low, among the Colombian public, among former rebel combatants, and even within the government itself. Unless significant action is taken to reassure those rebels that remain in the peace process, the risk of further desertion is high. Add to this the killing of former FARC members, including some likely carried out by security forces, and the precariousness of the peace accord becomes clear.

Criminal Economies – The criminal economies that sustained the FARC for more than five decades are more lucrative than ever, with Colombia producing record amounts of cocaine. However, the ex-FARC mafia rely on more than cocaine. Marijuana, especially in the violence-ridden department of Cauca is a big earner, while the profits from poppy and the heroin it produces are also considerable. More here.

*After 12 days of nationwide unrest, several Indigenous peoples of Ecuador joined by social organizations succeeded in forcing the government of Lenin Moreno into scrapping a presidential decree eliminating fuel subsidies in the oil-producing nation.

The uprising saw thousands of indigenous people marching towards the capital Quito from different corners of the country. They occupied the city and received unprecedented solidarity from local volunteers and progressive universities, while protesters vigorously clashed with security forces for days around the presidential palace and National Assembly.

“You can call it a war zone. It is ugly, ugly, ugly,” said Margarita, a member of the rescue brigade of the Eugenio Espejo hospital in the Ecuadorian capital Quito, attempting to catch her breath. She had just returned to a health care post a few hundred meters away from the frontlines of the clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters.

President Trump has a huge opportunity to lead the world on the importance of freedom, liberty, capitalism, peace and economies. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is doing a great job yet the tasks are larger than one person and the Congressional Democrats and 2020 candidates should be shamed for selling socialism.