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Comment by meindnoch | Hacker News Reader

Meanwhile doctors in India hand antibiotics out like candy.

Though I believe that still pales in comparison to US agricultural use. Based on some rough data sources I think the US uses about 2-3x more antibiotics on livestock than India uses on people.

Antibiotics are not cheap. Make it cheaper and you will see how they will use it on livestock.

There are already regulations around this. There are new ones coming. It's very easy to test for compliance.

The relative usage isn't even the primary issue. The surrounding conditions are. Farms are ideal breeding grounds for quite a few reasons. Add to that rather barbaric practices that can result in treatment periods dragging on quite a bit and the result isn't at all surprising.

There is also a not insignificant portion of "animal antibiotics" that people buy to use themselves because they can't afford the 6x markup on "human" antibiotics plus the doctors fees only to get the same pill made in the same factory with a slightly different label slapped on it.

Antibiotics are much cheaper there. They even prescribe it as a preventive measure.

One use of antibiotics in the cattle industry is as a way of increasing weight in livestock. It's theoretically discouraged now for that purpose now in the US, but last I looked there were large loopholes for preventative health purposes in herd management

and those indian made antibiotics sometimes are little different in effectiveness than candy

I dread it when any generic medication I get is made in india or china since the fda doesn't meaningfully regulate/test their stuff

Is that true? Since it should not be imported / available let alone perscribed if it doesn't pass the checks. And especially in the US, a doctor wouldn't hand it out if it didn't have the right paperwork because they would be litigated out of their livelihood.

I can't speak to the truth of the claim, but I do think it worth noting that they didn't claim they received it from a US doctor.

I've imported many medications directly from India via the internet and so far it has all been legit - I don't go for the cheapest source YMMV.

No.

Ranitidine was pulled from US shelves. Indians sell it online. It's the real deal.

Alldaychemist is legit, but I've only bought dermatological/beauty stuff there.

I've even bought Modafinil from some US based website that shipped from India. Customs believed it was legit and seized a few shipments. One that got through didn't do shit but maybe it's just me.

I wouldn't be surprised if they bin the good stuff for the export market.

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