Muntinlupa City Representative Rufino “Ruffy” Biazon on Monday, April 5, warned the public against purchasing products marketed as COVID-19 medicines, citing increasing number of sellers of non-approved drugs online and in social media.
(Photo from Biazon’s Facebook account / FILE PHOTO)
Biazon urged the public to buy only medicines that are registered and approved by the appropriate government regulatory agencies.
“While I am pleased that our officials are pro-actively looking for viable solutions to help COVID-19 patients overcome the disease, I am alarmed over the proliferation of online sellers marketing and offering medicines that are not approved as a cure for COVID-19,” Biazon said in a statement.
“Online platforms are the usual marketplace for these types of businesses where they escape liability,” he stressed.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), he said, should tighten the monitoring of e-commerce sites selling restricted medicines especially on Instagram and Facebook, and other e-commerce sites including Lazada and Shopee.
Biazon said the public should avoid buying from entities that to do not present the necessary business registration and permits to sell regulated products.
“The public should only buy the medicine from legitimate sellers. It is dangerous to buy from unknown, unverified, or anonymous online sellers especially those that sell to customers even without a prescription from a physician being presented,” he warned.
Biazon noted the intense focus on Ivermectin as a potential anti-COVID medication has “inadvertently diverted” the attention on other drugs being repurposed as COVID-19 medicine, like the traditional Chinese medicine Lianhua Qingwen.
The former Bureau of Customs (BOC) chief said he is alarmed over the reported confiscation of some P9-million worth of smuggled Chinese medicines, including Lianhua, in February.
Biazon said smugglers are realizing that there is a viable market for the drug here in the Philippines.
“Had the Bureau of Customs not seized these contraband medicines, they would have probably ended up in the grey or black market,” he said.
FDA Director General Eric Domingo, during a House Committee on Health hearing disclosed that the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) has delisted Linhua as a dangerous substance.
According to the FDA, Lianhua is registered in the Philippines as a traditional Chinese medicine for respiratory illnesses and not as a COVID-19 medication.
But in China, the drug is an approved treatment for mild and moderate cases of COVID-19. While the FDA approved Lianhua Qingwen, it warned the public against buying the unregistered versions of the Lianhua Qingwen Jiaonang capsule, which has a different label.