AFP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Beware of fake vitamins sold online, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the public in a statement.
The FDA said it was monitoring allegedly counterfeit Centrum and Centrum Silver advertised and sold in an online store Beeconomic Philippines, Inc., owned and operated by Groupon Philippines, an Internet company that sells discounted deals and coupons.
Centrum multivitamins are produced by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Consumer Healthcare (PCH).
In a recent investigation by the FDA and Pfizer, they dislcosed that the labels of Centrum multivitamins sold on the website differed from the labels required by the FDA.
The Centrum and Centrum Silver Centrum Silver Adults 50+ tablets in 300s and 200s, respectively, advertised on the Groupon site were discounted by 40-percent or from Centrums’ original price of P1,900 to only P1,149.
In the FDA Advisory No. 2013-043, it clarified that counterfeit products:
* Do not bear the FDA Certificate of Product Registration Number and do not contain the same formulation approved by the FDA;
* Do not carry the complete name and address of the manufacturer and/or distributor as required by the FDA.
* The font size of the generic name multivitamin + mineral is not in conformity with the labeling requirements of RA No. 6675, otherwise known as the Generics Law of 1988, which requires that the generic name should at least be one point size bigger than the brand name.
It added that “products are counterfeit as defined by Republic Act No. 8203, otherwise known as the Special Law on Counterfeit Drugs, and the said establishments are violating the provisions of Republic Act No. 9711, otherwise known as the FDA Act of 2009, which prohibits the manufacture, importation, exportation, sale, offering for sale, distribution, transfer, or retail of any drug product by any natural juridical person without the License to Operate (LTO) from the FDA.”
Although the FDA has not released official guidelines on the online selling and advertisement of pharmaceutical products, it warned the public from buying medicines through the internet until such time that the agency can assure “the safety, efficacy and quality of medicines sold through this medium.”
The FDA reiterated that consumers must always check the labels of the medicines they will purchase and advised them to buy medicines only from FDA-licensed establishments and outlets.
The advisory clarified that: “an illegitimate drug outlet is not supervised by a registered or licensed pharmacist and does not comply with proper documentation of all transactions in procuring and dispensing drug products. Documentation and traceability are vital to post-market surveillance and investigation of adverse drug reactions.”
Groupon Philippines could not be reached for comment.
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