For years we've been investigating poorly made generic drugs, but now, a new chapter: What if the same problems we've been reporting on could affect the readine
by LISA FLETCHER, ANDREA NEJMAN, NATHAN AARON | Spotlight on Americapoorly made generic drugs, but now, a new chapter: What if the same problems we've been reporting on could affect the readiness of US troops?
We got an exclusive look inside a Connecticut lab that's testing the military's drug supply. What they're finding could have serious implications for national security. The US military tests almost everything it depends on: weapons, vehicles and body armor. But one thing troops rely on every day has been mostly taken on trust: the medicines in their bottles.
David Light is the CEO of Valisure Light and his team are now testing essential generic medicines used by the military health care system, which includes nearly 10 million people. We got an exclusive look inside Valisure, where scientists are testing drugs for toxins, contaminants, and whether they work as they're supposed to "We see in our data a correlation to higher rates of carcinogens and contaminants when they're made overseas," Light told us.
While contaminants are a major concern, the lab is also looking at whether drugs contain too much or too little of their critical active ingredient, and how they dissolve. If it's too fast or too slow, it can put a patient in medical jeopardy, an overdose, or of not treating the condition. For a service member, that's a readiness issue. If a drug performs inconsistently and destabilizes a condition, it can affect whether they're deployable.
"There's two buckets of concern," Light said. "One is safety: toxins, carcinogens, impurities. And then also effectiveness.
" In this machine, liquid simulates the inside of a patient's stomach and the paddles spin to test how quickly a tablet dissolves Valisure has found carcinogens and heavy metals in multiple generic drugs These findings are of serious concern for Retired Army Colonel Vic Suarez. He led the military's medical logistics and supply chains for nearly three decades. Today, he's sounding the alarm about the quality of drugs flowing through them.
"We're not making t-shirts, we're not selling things through the dollar store, we're making medicines," said Suarez. "We have a dollar store mentality with these generic medicines. We're treating them like low level commodities like paperclips.
" Retired Army Colonel Vic Suarez was in charge of ensuring troops get the medical supplies they need But a troubling share are not. Light said part of the problem is the way the market is designed.
"You have a market failure that simply motivates everyone to get the lowest possible price, then you have misaligned incentives," he told us. "Your incentive is just to save a fraction of a fraction of a penny. Even if it has higher risk of contaminants, of carcinogens, of not working properly.
"Retired Army Colonel Vic Suarez says if the military adjusts how it purchases drugs to consider quality, it'll improve the supply chain as a whole "Right now we're rewarding the people that are actually racing to the bottom. They're getting a bigger market share," he said.
"So it's a perverse incentive right now and that's what needs to flip. " Both Suarez and Light are taking their message public: buying better generics for the military will mean safer generic drugs for every American. With a roughly $8 billion budget for prescription drugs, about 2% of the market in the US, the military has the power to shift the entire system.
"This is the time now to fix the pharmaceutical supply chain issue that is right in front of us," Suarez said. "This is the time to do it. "If you or someone you know has experienced health issues from an over-the-counter medication or prescription drug that was made incorrectly, reach out to us.
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