Lawmakers on Monday warned the public against abusive online sellers peddling anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin as treatment for Covid-19 infection, and asked the Department of Trade and Industry to tighten the monitoring of e-commerce sites selling restricted medicines.
Deputy Speaker for Trade and Industry Wes Gatchalian of Valenzuela made said he has noticed an increase in the number of sellers offering Ivermectin in e-commerce sites.
According to lawmaker, for as long as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is yet to issue a compassionate special permit for Ivermectin to be used as a treatment for the coronavirus disease, consumers should stick to the approved use of the drug.
He said Ivermectin has been registered and approved by the FDA as an anti-parasitic drug for use in animals. It has not been approved by the FDA for humans as there is still inadequate scientific evidence on its use as treatment of any viral infection.
He also reiterated his call to online e-commerce platforms to exercise due diligence with regards to its merchants and not pass off the responsibility to law enforcement agencies to run after people who are behind these online illegal activities.
“We appreciate that online e-commerce sites like Lazada have clearly classified Ivermectin as a veterinary drug, however, there may be unscrupulous individuals who will use the leniency of these online sites that make the drug easily accessible, to prey on the public especially now when word has spread that Ivermectin may be used as a cure for Covid-19,” Gatchalian said.
“Please be on the lookout for abusive online sellers who are taking advantage of the current situation and even manipulating the price of Ivermectin. I just want to remind the public that this drug has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for human use and may be highly harmful to the health of our consumers,” he said.
Earlier, FDA Director General Eric Domingo told lawmakers that any use of Ivermectin for the prevention or treatment of Covid 19 should be avoided as the benefits and safety for this purpose has not been established.
Currently, the FDA said the registered Ivermectin products in the country for human use are in topical formulations under prescription use only, saying this is used for the treatment of external parasites such as head lice and skin conditions such as rosacea.
The FDA said the registered oral and intravenous preparations of Ivermectin are veterinary products, which are approved for use in animals for the prevention of heartworm disease and treatment of internal and external parasites in certain animal species.
Moreover, Gatchalian said, “People should never take animal drugs, as the FDA has only evaluated their safety and effectiveness in the particular species for which they are labeled. Using these products in humans could cause serious harm.”
“Lazada and the other e-commerce platforms should tighten their control especially when it comes to medicines and other drugs. For one, the prices of these should never exceed the suggested retail price. Second, they should ban sellers who market drugs to be utilized for other than their recommended function,” he said.
Moreover, Gatchalian renewed his call for the immediate passage of the Internet Transactions Act (ITA) into law, which will mandate online platforms to exercise due diligence in the onboarding of sellers to protect consumers, adding that that a law regulating internet transactions would curb the prevalence of scams and other fraudulent and deceptive practices.
Under the ITA, e-commerce platforms shall be held liable with online merchants if the consumer suffers damage as a direct result of the transaction. On the other hand, an e-commerce platform will be held jointly liable if it fails, after notice, to expeditiously remove or disable access to goods or services appearing on its platform that it knows, or should know, to be not compliant with the law.
“During these times when people are under a pandemic and relying heavily on online transactions, an enabling law that will impose stricter rules and regulations…[and prevent] consumers from falling prey to these unscrupulous individuals are all the more needed,” he said.
“Let us all be vigilant, help monitor and report to authorities online marketplaces for fraudulent covid-19 drugs, or those that sell unapproved products and make false or misleading claims, to protect the health and safety of our consumers,” he added.
Tighten monitoring
Amid the clamor for the FDA to consider repurposed drugs as alternative cure for the coronavirus disease, Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon cautioned the public against purchasing products claiming to be Covid-19 medicines unless the products are registered and approved by appropriate government regulatory agencies as Covid-19 treatments or prophylactics.
Biazon also called on the Department of Trade and Industry to tighten the monitoring of e-commerce sites selling restricted medicines.
Biazon also noted the increasing number of sellers of non-approved drugs in online platforms like Instagram and Facebook and e-commerce sites including Lazada and Shopee as he warned the public to avoid buying from entities that do not present the necessary business registration and permits to sell regulated products to the public.
The former Customs chief also expressed alarm over the confiscation of some P9 million worth of smuggled Chinese medicines, including Lianhua, in February.
“These smugglers are realizing that there is a viable market for the drug here in the Philippines. Had the Bureau of Customs not seized these contraband medicines, they would have probably ended up in the grey or black market.
“Ivermectin for human use was recently allowed by FDA to be produced only by one pharmaceutical company after it applied for registration. On the other hand, Lianhua Qingwen is a prescription drug and should only be sold as such from drugstores and other authorized outlets,” he said.