The city government of Makati on Tuesday cautioned the public on the possible health risks of taking the repacked and unlabeled medicines and vitamins being distributed to city residents for free.
Makati Health Department head Bernard Sese also sent a letter to Food and Drug Administration director general Nela Charade Puno asking the agency to look into the matter.
“I am concerned that the distribution of unlabeled and repacked drugs can pose serious health risks and potentially fatal complications to Makati residents, especially the elderly who are on maintenance drugs,” Sese said.
The drugs were packed in transparent plastic bags that are sealed only with staple wire, Sese noted. He also sent the FDA chief samples of the packets received by residents for possible laboratory testing.
Based on the samples, the packaging of the drugs “apparently do not conform to standards prescribed by law,” referring to Republic Act 9711 or the Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009, Sese said.
“The medicines being distributed for free to our residents are not properly labeled. The packaging does not state the brand name or generic name of the contents, the quantity in terms of weight, measure or numerical count, and the expiration date,” he said.
Sese also raised concerns that the drugs may have been contaminated while being repacked.
“If the drugs were removed from the original packaging and repacked manually, these could have been exposed to contaminants and are, therefore, unsafe for anybody who takes them,” he said.
He also sent the FDA chief some copies of photos of the actual distribution of drugs in certain barangays that was monitored by the Makati Action Center in barangays Carmona and Kasilawan in the first district.
Some residents there also mentioned a popular vitamin brand manufactured in the United States among the drugs being distributed.
Previously, the FDA had issued a public warning against three products of the said vitamin brand for being unregistered locally.