Pew report on drug manufacturing abroad

The Pew Charitable Trust's Health Group (see here) has a new report "After Heparin: Protecting Consumers from the Risks of Substandard and Counterfeit Drugs."  The report states:

The number of drug products made outside of the United States doubled from 2001 to 2008, according to FDA estimates. The FDA estimates that up to 40 percent of finished drugs used by U.S. patients is manufactured abroad, and 80 percent of active ingredients and bulk chemicals used in U.S. drugs comes from foreign countries. Increasingly, the United States relies on drug manufacturing in developing countries—mainly China and India. Globalization, increased outsourcing of manufacturing, the complexity of pharmaceutical distribution and the existence of criminal actors willing to capitalize on supply chain weaknesses has created the potential for counterfeit or substandard medicines to enter the system and reach patients. As evidenced by the adulteration of heparin and other case studies outlined in this report, these rare but potentially serious events can have grave consequences.