GOVERNMENT agents on Monday shut down a Belo Medical Clinic pharmacy branch in Alabang, Muntinlupa City for selling cosmetic and other pharmaceutical products not registered with the Food and Drug Administration.
FDA personnel padlocked the pharmacy situated on West Gate in Alabang and posted a notice stating the store “is hereby ordered closed and to cease and desist in conducting its business activity” for violating Section 11(c) of Republic Act No. 3720 or the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
The food and drug regulator earlier ordered the Belo Medical Group to stop selling mislabeled cosmetics and drugs as the products were not registered and did not undergo certification process at the agency.
The subject cosmetics and pharmaceutical products include:
• ZO Medical by Zein Obagi;
• MD Glycogent Exfoliation Accelerator 10% concentration;
• ZO Medical by Zein Obagi Foamacleanse Gentle Foaming Cleanser for all types;
• ZO Medical by Zein Obagi Oclipse Sunscreen/Primer SPF 30 Protection;
• Belo Illuminating Cream Alpha Arbutin+Liquorice;
• Belo Prescriptives Keralyt 2 Cream;
• ZO Medical by Zein ObagiMD Melamix Skin Lightener & Blending Creme Hydroquinone USP;
• ZO Medical by Zein Obagi MD Melanin Skin Bleaching & Correcting Creme Hydroquinone USP;
• Belo Prescriptives Acne Astringent;
• Belo Prescriptives Belo White;
• Belo Prescriptives DLC Peeling Creme;
• ZO Medical by Zein Obagi MD Cebatrol.
“These products didn’t undergo registration process of the FDA, meaning they were not authorized to sell it. They must undergo and wait for the process, that they will be allowed to sell,” said Allen Bantolo, chief of the FDA Regulatory Enforcement Unit, in a television interview.
Authorities said all drugs and cosmetic products should undergo certification from the FDA to ensure public safety.
Five days ago, the FDA warned the Belo Medical Group they might face administrative and criminal charges for continuing selling unregistered cosmetic products.
FDA Director General Nela Charade Puno said several BMG employees “face contempt or obstruction of justice charges” for allegedly refusing to allow the regulatory agency’s operatives to inspect their clinic and pharmacy.
In August 2016, environmental group Ecowaste Coalition also demanded that Belo Essential Products line containing cancer-causing “isobutyl paraben” be removed from the market shelves as these items pose health risks to the public.
The coalition’s demand came on the heels of FDA advisory reiterating its ban on isobutyl paraben and four other types of paraben in line with the Asean Cosmetics Directive.
The five parabens that the FDA banned “must not form part of the composition of cosmetic products.”
Parabens have been identified as endocrine disrupting chemicals based on evidence that they interfere and mimic hormones, particularly estrogen, which is the primary female sex hormone, the coalition said.
Furthermore, the coalition disclosed that studies have associated parabens in breast cancer, tumors of the uterus, abnormal development of the testes, infertility and other reproductive health problems.
The group also identified the products containing the banned parabens being sold in the markets as Whitening Lotion with SPF 30 (white container), Whitening Lotion with Skin Vitamins, Moisturizing Whitening Body Bar with Nourishing Skin Vitamins (white and light blue box), Moisturizing Whitening Body Bar with Nourishing Skin Vitamins (pink and blue box), and Smoothening Whitening Body Bar with Exfoliating Microbeads (pink box).