Solon calls on authorities to heighten campaign vs. counterfeit medicine

A lawmaker has asked law enforcement agencies to step up its campaign against counterfeit medicine following the seizure of fake prescription and over-the-counter drugs from five pharmacies in Cebu last week.

House Assistant Majority Leader and Cebu Rep. Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr. said authorities should be more aggressiv  in going after syndicates engaged in the illicit manufacture and distribution of fake medicine since these drugs not only defraud consumers, but also put their health and lives at risk.

“In some cases, they are likely to put at risk the lives of seriously ill patients…  [The syndicates] should be apprehended, prosecuted and put behind bars,” Gullas said in a statement.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), counterfeit medicine may be contaminated, contain the wrong ingredient, or contain no active ingredient. Alternately, they could have the right active ingredient but at the wrong dose.

The maunufacture, sale and distribution of counterfeit drugs is prohibited under the law.

Last July 9, the National Bureau of Investigation confiscated several boxes of imitation medicine during simultaneous raids on five pharmacies in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay and Naga in Cebu.

The pharmacies were found selling bogus versions of popular branded medicines such as Amoclav, Calcibloc, Alaxan FR, Inoflux, Solmux, Solmux Broncho, Aspilets, Biogesic, Diatabs, Tuseran, Neozep, Medicol Advance, Decolgen, Dolfenal, Bioflu, Skelan, Kremil S, Qinolon, Disudrin, Decilone, Neo-Pyrazon, Ceelin, Enervon-C, Revicon and Myra-E.

The fake medicine and their packaging looked exactly like the genuine versions.

Following the NBI’s raid, Gullas said he is counting on the FDA to take administrative action against pharmacies found selling fake medicine even if they may be small businesses.

“We support small business owners, including licensed pharmacies. But it goes without saying they are supposed to guarantee the authenticity of every product they dispense,” he said. — Xianne Arcangel/BM, GMA News