Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILABULLETIN)

Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers has called out so-called medical experts for allegedly not prioritizing the formulation of cures for common ailments such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer, among others.

According to the Nacionalista Party (NP) stalwart, the medical scientists being employed by big pharmaceutical firms ("big pharma") have just been focusing their inventions on alleviating pain or preventing symptoms. 

But why aren't they working out on medicines that would actually cure people?

“Ang isa sa posibleng sagot dito ay ayaw nila. Dahil kapag gumaling na ang tao sa kanilang mga sakit, konti na lang ang bibili ng gamot nila. At dito ay wala na silang kita o 

ganansya na umaabot sa bilyon-bilyong piso o dolyar,” Barbers said.

(One of the possible answers to this is, they don't want to. Because once the person gets cured of his or her ailment, the sale of their medicines will drop. And from here they will lose their profits reaching in the billions of pesos or dollars.)

He says that while hundreds of pharmaceutical drugs are available in the local market to relieve symptoms, treat medical conditions, and prevent diseases, most medications--while working to achieve their goal targets--usually do more than what they are supposed to, thus resulting in certain adverse side effects. 

Citing medical reports, Barbers said the side effects of certain medicines can range from minor to severe, sometimes even life-threatening. It's occurrence and severity vary from person to person, depending on a person’s age, gender, BMI or body mass index and other comorbidities. 

“Marami tayong natatanggap na ulat na iyong mga taong matagal nang gumagamit ng gamot para sa high blood pressure o diabetes ay nagkakaroon na nang problema sa atay o sa kidney, at ang iba ay nagda-dialysis na,” he said. 

(We have received reports that the people who have long been using maintenance medicines for high blood pressure or diabetes have developed problems with their liver or kidney, or worse, have been forced to undergo dialysis.)

“At napaka-tahimik ng mga big pharma at mga doktor natin sa mga developments na ito hinggil sa ating kalusugan.”

(And our big pharma and doctors have had defeaning silence on these particular health developments.)

Barbers said he would draft a bill enabling the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to compel the big pharma to put up adverse side effects label warning on certain drugs that drug experts, doctors and lawmakers would identify.  

The Surigao del Norte solon says there is no need for such label on drugs that contain warnings or medicine contraindication--a medical condition or symptom that makes a particular treatment or procedure inadvisable because it may be harmful to the person.