The Department of Health on Tuesday told the public to be wary of scammers selling various unregistered food and drug products with photos of local celebrities and personalities used as fake endorsers.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa asked the public to make sure to look for “FDA Approved” in the bottles and boxes of procured drugs.
Dr. Willie Ong and Dr. Anthony Leachon were among the personalities used in the counterfeit products, have filed cases with the Cybercrime Division of the National Bureau of Investigation according to Herbosa.
He cited that these fake drugs are possibly smuggled from abroad as they are not registered under the Food and Drug Administration. Charles Dantes
The DOH chief warned stores and online shops caught selling contraband products that FDA has the power to close them down.
On July 3, Senator Jinggoy Estrada filed Senate Resolution No. 666 to have the Senate investigate the matter.
“These advertisements mislead consumers into believing that these celebrities are using and endorsing food and medicinal products that are actually unregistered before the proper health authorities and not yet approved for mass distribution and public consumption,” Estrada said.
The senator cited the urgent need to protect consumers from potentially harmful food and health products.