Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Director General Eric Domingo on Thursday, April 8, defended himself from those calling for his resignation, saying that decisions made by the FDA are based on scientific evidence.
(RTVM / FILE PHOTO)
Domingo made the statement following reports of some people calling for him to step down due to alleged irregularities and questionable decisions of the FDA.
“Well, ako naman po sumusunod lang ako sa mga proseso ng FDA. Siguro po may mga iba hindi sila natutuwa sa ating mga desisyon pero based naman po tayo on processes at saka scientific evidence (Well, I just follow the FDA processes. Maybe there are others who are not happy with our decisions but we are based on processes and also scientific evidence),” he said in a press briefing.
“Hindi po kasi puwedeng madaliin ang mga bagay-bagay kung hindi po kumpleto ang pinagdaanan na proseso, hindi po kumpleto iyong mga dokumento na sinubmit sa atin (Because things cannot be expedited if the process is not complete, the documents submitted to us are not complete),” he added.
Domingo on Thursday said the FDA has approved a compassionate special permit (CSP) application of a hospital for the use of anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin despite concerns of its possible effects when used on humans.
“Ang pagkaka-alam ko po may isang ospital sa amin na nag apply ng compassionate special permit for the use of Ivermectin at ito po ay na grant na ngayong araw na ito (As far as I know, there is one hospital that has applied for a compassionate special permit for the use of Ivermectin and this was granted today),” Domingo said.
The Department of Health (DOH) earlier said that it does not recommend the use of Ivermectin for the treatment of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Likewise, the FDA warned the public against the purchase and use of Ivermectin veterinary products for the treatment of COVID-19.
It also noted that the use of Ivermectin for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 should be avoided as the benefits and safety for this purpose has not been established.
“Ginagawa lang naman po natin iyong ating trabaho at kung mayroon pong hindi natutuwa—basta naman po ang pangako lang namin sa FDA basta po sundin natin ang proseso lahat po ay gagawin namin at ipa-process namin lahat (We just do our job and if someone is not happy— we promise in the FDA, as long as the process was followed, we will do everything and we will process everything),” Domingo added.