The US has imposed new sanctions on drug manufacturers in an effort to crack down on the flow of cheap foreign-made painkillers into the country. Four Chinese companies and one individual, Chuen Fat Yip, were targets of sanctions imposed by the US Treasury Department. The State Department has also announced a reward of up to $5 million for the arrest of Chuen, who was called "one of the largest, if not the largest, producer of anabolic steroids in the world."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the sanctions “will help disrupt the global supply chain and the financial networks that enable synthetic opioids and precursor chemicals to reach the United States.”
China has “resolutely opposed” the new US sanctions. “These kinds of erroneous acts, in which one side is sick but forces the other to take the medicine, is not constructive,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters.
China has emerged as one of the leading producers of cheap fentanyl, a powerful opioid used as a painkiller and anaesthesia. However, it has quickly become a popular recreational drug and opioid addicts mix it with heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine. The cocktail has deadly effects.
What will the sanctions achieve?
The sanctions are aimed at plugging the inflow of illicit synthetic opioids and precursor chemicals into the US. Sanctions have been imposed on 25 entities. Some of the entities included in the list are Wuhan Yuancheng Gongchuang Technology Co Ltd which is run by Chuen; Primeiro Comando Da Capital (PCC), which is one of Brazil’s most powerful criminal groups’ and the Sinaloa Cartel, a coalition of the most powerful drug traffickers in Mexico.
The sanctions will limit the ability of such groups to conduct business and operations in the US.
“This E.O. enhances the Department of Treasury’s authorities to target any foreign person engaged in drug trafficking activities, regardless of whether they are linked to a specific kingpin or cartel. It further enables Treasury to sanction foreign persons who knowingly receive property that constitutes, or is derived from, proceeds of illicit drug trafficking activities,” the US Treasury Department said in a statement.
In recent years, opioid pills are increasingly being brought from web platforms and online sources where they are being sold and marketed openly. These platforms and websites source their drugs from Mexico, which itself gathers synthetic precursors from China.
Why were the sanctions needed?
The opioid crisis has been a growing epidemic in the United States, with the latest data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlighting that more than 100,000 deaths occurred in the US as a result of overdoses in the 12-month period ending in April 2021. These overdoses can be traced back to the use of drugs like synthetic opioids, fentanyl, and other painkillers.
The scarcity of morphine and the need for painkillers of various strengths led to the development of various synthetic opioids. The drugs were marketed as better and less addictive than morphine or other painkillers.
As a result, doctors, pushed by large pharmaceutical companies, began prescribing these drugs to patients unaware of their addiction risk. These drugs were soon being prescribed for conditions and symptoms that earlier would not receive any painkillers.
The highly addictive nature of the drugs led to many patients getting hooked. Many of these unintended addicts turned to cheaper alternatives like heroin, an illegal opioid, and other narcotics. These cheaper, easier-to-find alternatives fuelled addiction and would lead to many deaths due to a drug overdose.
Earlier in the year, Johnson & Johnson and three of the largest US drug distributors, McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, agreed to a $26-billion settlement with several states in the US.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
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