Warning vs fake medicine

MANILA, Philippines–The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the public about a fake variant of a fruit punch-flavored antibiotic being sold in the market.

In an advisory, the FDA said it had confirmed that Klaricid Clarithromycin 250mg/5ml granules for suspension in fruit punch flavor No. L7877, supposedly manufactured in Canada, is a counterfeit drug after Abbott Laboratories Philippines compared it with the registered drug.

In its analysis, the pharmaceutical firm noted that the fake medicine carried a five-character list number “L7877” while the authentic product’s list number contained only four characters, “L207.”

Abbott Philippines said the authentic Klaricid is manufactured in Indonesia and not in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada, as indicated in the label of the fake drug.–Jocelyn R. Uy