Let’s dive into a significant story that’s making waves in the halls of Congress, where a group of bipartisan lawmakers is sounding the alarm over some concerning connections between U.S. pharmaceutical companies and China. According to a letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, these lawmakers are demanding that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigate these ties, particularly those that involve collaboration with the Chinese military and clinical trials in Xinjiang, a region notorious for human rights abuses.
So, what’s going on here? The letter, signed by Republican Representatives John Moolenaar and Neal Dunn, and Democratic Representatives Anna Eshoo and Raja Krishnamoorthi, highlights some pretty serious concerns.
These lawmakers are worried that U.S. pharmaceutical companies may have been working with the Chinese military—the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)—on clinical trials. The fear is that through these collaborations, sensitive U.S. intellectual property might be getting funneled straight into the hands of Beijing, a scenario that could have significant implications for national security.
The letter claims that U.S. pharmaceutical companies have been involved in “hundreds” of clinical trials in China over the past decade. In one troubling example, a company even listed the PLA as a research partner. Other firms reportedly partnered with PLA installations to recruit patients for studies or conducted trials in PLA hospitals.
The lawmakers are understandably concerned about the risks involved, particularly the potential for critical intellectual property to be transferred to the PLA or co-opted under China’s National Security Law.
But it’s not just the involvement with the PLA that has these lawmakers up in arms. The letter also draws attention to clinical trials conducted in Xinjiang, the region where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been accused of committing grave human rights violations against Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslim groups.
Reports suggest that over a million Uyghurs have been detained in internment or detention facilities since 2017, with some estimates putting the number as high as three million. The lawmakers expressed deep concern that U.S. pharmaceutical companies could be profiting from data obtained in trials where patients might have been forced to participate by the CCP.
The bipartisan group of lawmakers has set an October 1 deadline for the FDA to respond to a series of questions. They want to know if the FDA has reviewed clinical trials involving the PLA or at PLA installations, whether the FDA has ever been denied access to clinical sites in China, and if U.S. pharmaceutical organizations were aware that they were conducting studies or trials in Xinjiang.
In their letter, the lawmakers emphasized the urgency of the matter, stating that the FDA likely already possesses data from these trials. They’re calling for a “timely response,” and it’s clear that they won’t be letting this issue slide without answers.
