OU Gives Kosher Supervision To Injection-Only Prescription Drug – The First Time This Has Ever Been Done

A new injection-only drug has received a hechsher (rabbinic supervision mark) from the Orthodox Union and is the first pharmaceutical prescription drug ever to receive one – a complete innovation in halakha (Jewish law) because the drug is given by injection only and therefore is completely exempt from all rules of kosher food.

 

OU Gives Kosher Supervision To Injection-Only Prescription Drug – The First Time This Has Ever Been Done
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

A new injection-only drug has received a hechsher (rabbinic supervision mark) from the Orthodox Union and is the first pharmaceutical prescription drug ever to receive one – a complete innovation in halakha (Jewish law) because the drug is given by injection only and therefore is completely exempt from all rules of kosher food.

Nonetheless, the OU gave Pfizer an OU symbol (“Ⓤ”) for its new drug, Elelyso – and touted doing so, CNBC reported this afternoon.

"In a life or death situation, Jewish law clearly sets aside the kosher status of a prescription medicine, but in other cases, it is preferable and sometimes recommended that a medicine be certified kosher. We commend Pfizer for taking this step and making this commitment to the Jewish community,” Rabbi Menachem Genack, the CEO of OU Kosher, reportedly said in a Pfizer press release.

Elelyso is a form of enzyme replacement therapy that is meant to provide longterm treatment for adults with Type 1 Gaucher Disease. It is manufactured in Israel for Pfizer by Protalix Biotherapeutics.

One in every 14 Ashkenazi Jews is a carrier of Gaucher Disease.

In that press release, Pfizer reportedly claims Elelyso got OU supervision because kosher criteria were "met due to Protalix's innovative and proprietary manufacturing system, which uses genetically engineered carrot cells grown in a simple solution of water, plant extracts, sugar and a mixture of vitamins and minerals.”

When CNBC pointed out to a Pfizer spokesperson that injection-only medicines do not need kosher certification at all, and that oral medications taken to save life don’t either, Pfizer’s spokesperson responded by claiming the OU certification "shows Pfizer's commitment to the Gaucher disease community."

She also told CNBC that Pfizer only paid the OU a "nominal fee" to cover expenses related to sending kosher inspectors to the manufacturing facility in Israel to inspect it and for granting certification.

Gaucher Disease “prevents the breakdown of some fats because of an enzyme deficiency and may lead to organ damage or even death. Type 1 Gaucher is thought to affect about 6,000 people in the United States, and it is the most common genetic disorder in people with Ashkenazic Jewish ancestry, according to the National Gaucher foundation,” CNBC reported.

[Hat Tip: Sfek-Sfaika.]

Comments

[EGAR]

Sorry, but this sounds like a big boondoggle that will increase the price of drugs, which for many people are barely affordable now.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Yes, but has the syringe been toivelled?

[Yochanan Lavie]

Apologies to Huey Lewis (I Want A New Drug):

I want a Jew drug
One that won't make me trief
One that won't make me kill the Czar
Or make me feel much too frei

I want a Jew drug
One that won't gei in dred
One that won't make my mouth too dry
Or stop my shidduch being “redd”

Refrain:
One that won't make me worthless,
Tells me what to do
One that makes me feel like I am a Holy Jew
Like I’m a holy Jew

I want a Jew drug
One that would kvell
One that don't cost too much
Or come in a shell [shellfish]

I want a Jew drug
One that won't make me Gay
One that will keep my shirts so white
One that won't make me say “oy vey”

Refrain.

I'm a Holy Jew, bubbie

I want a Jew drug
One that does what it should
One that won't make me feel some lad
One that won't make me feel my wood

I want a Jew drug
One with no doubt
One that won't make me use a smart phone
Or make my beard fall out

Refrain.

I’m a holy Jew
I’m a holy Jew, nu, nu…

[David]

Outrageous. It is forbidden to invent new halachot. Why should people respect kashruth when they invent nonsense like this? Now the frumma will refuse all drugs unless they have a hechsher. And what about pig heart valves derived from pigs and other xenografts? It's difficult to see how an OU can go on a pig valve. Will they refuse those? The implications of this nonsense are very serious.

[Jeff]

Very good, YL! :-D

[Yochanan Lavie]

Thanks, Jeff.

[David]

What the rabbis have maliciously done is invent a whole new kashrut market and the frumma will demand hechserim on all drugs. Presumably they won't use any animal or human grafts or derived drugs. And what of transplants like hearts, kidneys etc and blood transfusions? Well, the frumma should NOT get transplants anyway as they are not prepared to donate but apart from that, they are not from a kosher source (although it can be argued that human products are kosher). May be the organs or blood will have to be certified as from a Jew?

[ah-pee-chorus]

Nice YL.

The OU shows that they're willing to whore out halacha if the price is right.

[Enlighten us Oh Failed One!]

Shmarya! You missed an even bigger story!

The OU is going to certify a special production of piriformis steroid injection formulated just for you!

http://www.mgmc.org/services/outpatient/pain/piriformis-steroid-injection/#.U7M-cvmwLYg

A piriformis steroid injection is an injection of a long lasting steroid into the piriformis muscle of your buttock.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Thanks, APC.

[yehuda fulda]

they give a hechsher on laundry detergent ...why not drugs also...im awaiting kashrut symbols on dresses because every one knows people cant think for themselves

[Enlighten us Oh Failed One!]

Fulda, just curious if you are any relation to the kosher hotel in Manchester?

[Yosef ben Matitya]

From the thieves (among few) who brought you hechsher on aluminum foil. What next? Toilet paper?

[zachw]

"in other cases, it is preferable and sometimes recommended that a medicine be certified kosher. "

Bullshit, "Rabbi" Genack.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

Zachw,
Bullshit, bullshit but anytime a better Rabbi than the plethora of chasidem sheuytim.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

"...the Gaucher disease community..."

Almost all of the Gaucher Disease patients I've met are frumma.

[Garnel Ironheart]

Where there's money there's a hechsher.

[Elliot]

Consumer Reports had a photograph last month of toilet bowl cleaner with an OU. I know some people take pride in keeping the bathroom so clean you can eat off the fixtures, but this is getting out of hand.

[David]

+++Consumer Reports had a photograph last month of toilet bowl cleaner with an OU. I know some people take pride in keeping the bathroom so clean you can eat off the fixtures, but this is getting out of hand.

Posted by: Elliot | July 02, 2014 at 08:17 AM+++

Contrary to Halacha, now the frumma are altering Halacha and Torah. Kashrut now involves BOTH ends of the alimentary canal, not just the mouth. See FM story on Hechsher on enema solution. And of course, injectable prescription drugs now need a hechsher as well as per another recent FM story.

[David]

The idiot rabbis will be DIRECTLY responsible for killing people when the frumma will refuse to take drugs or use transplants/xenografts which are not considered "kosher".

[David]

Clarification to what I said above, the frumma may be willing to ACCEPT transplants but they should not be GIVEN them as they refuse to donate them.

[Ellis Gross]

I emailed the OU and asked them what the necessity of their mark was. So far no reply.