Duo sold unchecked syringes to hospitals

Up to 70,000 syringes which did not pass through the Food and Drugs Administration for approval were seized by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation in a raid on a house in Pasig City Tuesday morning.

Senior Special Agent Carlos Borromeo said the syringes worth at least P2.9 million were being illegally sold to various hospitals in Metro Manila.

Borromeo noted that the syringes were not subjected to FDA quality control procedures and posed potential risks to end users. “These products were not properly processed at FDA and it’s dangerous to use them,” he said.

Acting on a search warrant issued by a Manila court judge, NBI agents stormed a house belonging to Indian citizen Manoj Kamchandina and Joel Herrera on Indigo Street, Stella Maris Subdivision, Pasig City.

Borromeo said the medical instruments were bought by the suspects from a supplier in Bambang, Manila.  “They are not importers. They buy them from a seller in Bambang and illegally distribute the syringes to hospitals.”

Kamchandina and Herrera would be charged with violation of the Consumers Act and other related laws, he said. Nancy C. Carvajal