The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it had asked the online platforms Lazada and Shoppee to stop selling medicine online until they had secured proper authority, citing possible health risks.
The agency made the statement even as Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol confirmed that the canned pork products confiscated at the Clark International Airport on March 25 had tested positive for the African Swine Fever virus.
Piñol said the Bureau of Animal Industry had reported the detection of the ASF virus from the confiscated products brought in by a returning Filipino worker from Hong Kong.
The online markets Lazada and Shoppee were asked to “immediately cease and desist from further online selling and offering for sale drug products” until it obtained a license from the FDA, the agency said in a statement.
The FDA, an agency under the Health department, said buying medicine online would place “the lives of the general public in danger and at risk.”
The agency warned the two platforms they could be cited for “direct or indirect contempt and/or other administrative sanctions” should they fail to comply with its order.
The FDA also reminded the public to “exercise extreme caution” and to avoid buying health products offered online.