Did you visit their premises? Do you know how the substance is produced? How is the environment controlled? What additives are used?
100%! And I'm glad you asked this often-neglected question!
100% yes! I can't go more into this because I'll doxx myself...
Below, I'll explain why & how.
A little background:
When I was a kid, I was traumatized when I was told that my best friend at that time, the daughter of my Godmother (Madrina), had only a few years to live. She had a pituitary disease. Not much was known about her condition. One of the treatments that was shown to ease her pain and help her was growth hormone isolated from the human pituitary gland.
Naturally, I became interested in this compound and kept following it until Protropin was approved in 1985. By this time, I was already studying in the US, so I had access to Genentech by simply taking a Greyhound bus to California.
During my years studying in the US, I met another student who was an absolute genius in biotechnology. This guy:
Jin Lei
In 2005, I was invited to visit their manufacturing plant in Changchun, Jilin province. See the picture of the airport when I arrived for the first time in 2005. It's totally different now.
This is the view from my perspective arriving at the manufacturing facilities of Genescience in Changchun, Jilin Province.
In the late 1990s, I also visited Pharmacia Upjohn's manufacturing facilities in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where every diner closed at 17:00.
That's where your Genotropin was being manufactured then.
This was before Pfizer acquired Pharmacia in 2003.
I owned several compounding pharmacies, and we (temporarily) BEAT the FDA here in SCOTUS:
Thompson v. Western States Medical Center, 535 U.S. 357 (2002) Argued: February 26, 2002 Decided: April 29, 2002 Syllabus OCTOBER TERM, 2001 Syllabus THOMPSON, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL. v. WESTERN STATES MEDICAL CENTER ET AL. CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT No. 01-344. Argued February 26, 2002-Decided April 29, 2002
Howard Hoffmann, a partner at Duane Morris, defended that case in front of SCOTUS. He was a brilliant and honorable attorney. Howard passed away at the end of 2014! May he RIP! I really miss that guy! He was beyond brilliant.
Then BIG PHARMA & the FDA started their conspiracy and prosecution of compounding pharmacists. Here:
2007: Compounding Pharmacy Indicted for Illegal Hormone Sales
and here:
July 7, 2008 - Feds accuse compounding pharmacy in import case.
So, seeing what was coming, I sold and bailed out of the business (in the West). There was no use in spending time, money, and resources fighting a corrupt, one-sided system. Jurors are TOO stupid to understand the hypocrisy, sophistry, and casuistry of the industry, and judges get the same (green) paycheck from the same entity as the prosecution. Just a very dumb move to challenge them. Just like I wouldn't challenge an indictment of Kim Jong Un against me in North Korea. It would just be pure gullibility and naivety to think there will be a fair trial.
By the way, they also indicted Lei Jin and Genescience since "they" couldn't compete.
News Release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. September 25, 2007. Indictment Charges a Chinese Drug Manufacturer and Three Others with International HGH Trafficking $3.4 Million Seized from Chinese Banks in New York.
Also, I constantly keep up with the industry:
Source: For example, I keep up religiously with industry. The above-pictured magazine, Pharmaceutical Technology, is from May 2024.
Of course, due to the placebo effect, every person should use the medications and brands they feel the most comfortable with.
Source:
Harvard Medical School: The power of the placebo effect. December 13, 2021. Treating yourself with your mind is possible, but there is more to the placebo effect than positive thinking.