MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the police force to arrest those who manufacture, import, trade, administer, dispense, deliver, and distribute fake drugs, his chief legal counsel said.
They would face economic sabotage charges, according to Salvador Panelo Jr.
These acts “undermine” the economy as they will “affect the law of supply and demand, affect the prices,” the presidential lawyer said on Wednesday.
They also “threaten the security of the nation” as they “endanger the vast health of the people,” Panelo said.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued an advisory warning the public of counterfeit 500-milligram tablets of the paracetamol Biogesic.
“All health care professionals and the general public are hereby warned as to the availability of this counterfeit drug product in the market, which poses potential danger or injury to consumers,” said the agency.
Drugs and medicines account for 46 percent of the total medical out-of-pocket expenses of Philippine households, Panelo noted, citing a 2011 study.
Counterfeit ones make up 10 percent of the world’s medicines on average, and this reaches up to 70 percent in developing countries, he added.
“Substandard and falsified medicines have become a global pandemic, impacting the safety of patients around the world,” the chief presidential legal counsel said.
“The scale at which the pharmaceutical industry of the Philippines may be affected can also result in considerable loss of government revenues, specifically in the form of taxes,” he added./PN
