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KERA's Think

Can you trust generic drugs?

KERA's Think

KERA

Society & Culture, 071003, Kera, Think, Krysboyd

4.8861 Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When you pop open your medication bottle and take your pills, you assume they are safe. But how do you know? Debbie Cenziper, investigative journalist for ProPublica, joins host Krys Boyd to discuss how medicines made in overseas labs don’t always meet U.S. safety standards; why lawmakers, doctors and patients are often unaware of this problem; and why we can’t easily find out where our medication is made. Her article is “Is Your Medication Made in a Contaminated Factory? The FDA Won’t Tell You.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Have you heard about OMG Yes?

0:03.0

This is a website of new findings from the largest ever research study into women's pleasure and intimacy in partnership with researchers at Yale and IU.

0:12.0

When you see that kind of evidence-based, open, honest portrayal of what feels good and why, it becomes so obvious. That's just how this should be.

0:25.2

The techniques are beautifully organized and presented with women of diverse ages,

0:30.8

sharing their experiences, no shame, no blushing, just enthusiasm that makes you want to learn more.

0:35.1

You can watch OMG Yes, All By Yourself, you can watch with a partner, or you can discuss it with friends like a book club.

0:38.1

See for yourself at omg yes.com. That's omg yes.com.

0:44.1

When they are available to us, generic medications are often far less expensive than the name brand

0:58.6

version.

0:59.6

They're supposed to contain identical active ingredients, but they cost less in part because, like

1:05.2

a lot of discount items, they are often made in places like China and India.

1:09.7

Overseas labs are subject to FDA inspection if they're

1:12.6

going to send drugs to the U.S. But if inspectors have found safety violations at these facilities,

1:18.5

chances are neither you nor your doctor will ever hear about it. From KERA in Dallas,

1:24.9

this is think. I'm Chris Boyd. The most serious infractions can get a lab banned

1:30.1

from selling to U.S. customers. But as my guest has learned, even banned labs sometimes get

1:35.5

exemptions when the drugs they make are in short supply. Debbie Sensiper is an investigative

1:40.7

journalist and nonfiction author, also a professor at Northwestern University.

1:45.4

Her story headlined, is your medication made in a contaminated factory? The FDA won't tell

1:50.8

you is available at ProPublica. Debbie, welcome to think. Thank you for having me. We'll be talking

1:57.4

specifically about generic drugs today. Just briefly, how does it work that a patented medication becomes available in generic form?

2:06.6

Sure.

...

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