One thing you can say with certainty about China...it's pretty darn big.

Oh, and from the point of view of many industries, including Big Pharma, it's also pretty darn cheap.

There are hundreds of Big Pharma sites in China -- by the end of last year there were already more than 700, with Pfizer alone having 137.

Cheap research (Eli Lilly recently announced they're opening a diabetes research center in Shanghai) and cheap manufacturing...could it get any better?

Oh yes, it could. In fact, China could be part of a new "wild west," where anything goes and there's nobody to answer to.

But there is somebody, right? After all, doesn't the FDA keep tabs on these companies no matter where they are? Aren't they still in control?

Oh, sure. They're there. All TWO of them.

That's right -- the FDA has only two inspectors in all of China (and another two in India, another favorite for overseas business). Two inspectors for nearly one thousand sites.

In a September report, they even admitted they just can't keep up. In fact, in 2009, the FDA only managed to inspect 11 percent of foreign factories -- and that was with the help of 15 U.S.-based inspectors.

Great -- so we can look forward to more stories like the contaminated heparin that poisoned hundreds of people in 2008. Taking patent drugs is such an adventure!

Of course, you know how we feel here at Nutrition & Healing -- even if there were an FDA inspector for every drug site in China, that wouldn't take away the too-close relationship between Big Pharma and the FDA.

But it certainly serves to illustrate the complete lack of oversight and concern for our health, doesn't it?

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