I don’t know much about drugs being banned in different countries but available here in the United States, but I have some experience with ingredients that are banned in certain countries. I work for J&J consumer R&D and when we are developing a new product we have to make sure that the ingredients we use will be considered safe in any country we want to sell the product in. The most common country I have run into issues with is China. They take a long time to qualify and raw materials that J&J has developed in house. I believe that since we are not a dedicated supplier who’s only drive is to sell raw materials too companies then they scrutinize our raw materials more closely. This has meant that whilst we can release a product under one formula in North America and Europe we have to change the formula for China.

I think this all comes down to the mentality of the governments. Every government is different and will place different values on the different properties and side effects that certain drugs will have. I also think governments will make choices based on the benefits versus the detriments. Say a company creates a cure for Alzheimer’s, and it has the side effect of high blood pressure. Well then I’d like to think every government would approve that because high blood pressure can be easily managed. But if the side effect was highly damaging to another system in your body then it is up to the government to decide whether or not that drug is worth it. I think that is the root cause of why some drugs are allowed in certain countries.