Red flags on sale of counterfeit substandard medicines bared

The Cordillera office of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA-CAR) alerted the public on the red flags that must be taken into consideration to avoid purchasing counterfeit or substandard medicines that might adversely affect their health.

FDA-CAR Regional Supervisor Saturnina Pandosen said that medicines should only be brought from licensed drug stores.

Further, she claimed that another red flag that should be considered by the public is when the prices of the desired medicines being sold outside drug stores or online are way lower than the prevailing prices of the ones sold in the legitimate establishments.

The FDA-CAR official noted that the public should be wary about the packaging of the medicines that they desire to purchase to ensure that they are purchasing the real ones and those that are counterfeit or substandard to ensure that their health condition will not be adversely affected and compromised once they take in such fake medicines.

Pandosen pointed out that the medicines should not break into pieces when their packaging is opened as it is also another red flag to be considered to avoid taking in counterfeit or substandard medicines.

The FDA defines counterfeit medicines as those that are manufactured by unlicensed entities where the components of the same are 80 percent below the prescribed standards while substandard medicines are those that are 90 percent below the prescribed components as per testing of the said products.

She asserted that medicines are not supposed to be sold online but it seems that unscrupulous online sellers who are able to get away with the sale of counterfeit or substandard medicines by taking advantage of the influence of social media platforms. – Dexter A. See