FDA says counterfeit medicines found in Davao usually come from Luzon

Counterfeit medicines that reach Davao usually come from Luzon, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said, adding that fake human albumin and anti-rabies products found in the Davao Region have been sealed and can no longer be sold.

Eba Marie Antonette Inis, officer-in-charge director II of the FDA Mindanao East Cluster, gave the update at the Isyu Karon media forum at The Royal Mandaya Hotel in Davao City on Friday, Nov. 6, according to SunStar. She said no one has been caught making counterfeit medicines in Davao so far.

Inis said the FDA confirmed on Oct. 30 that five counterfeit products had been found this year at four establishments in the region. Three of these came from two establishments in Davao City: two lots of human albumin and one lot of the anti-rabies serum Equirab.

Besides the albumin, the sealed items include 2,500 vials of the anti-rabies vaccine Speeda worth P1.88 million, 92 vials of the anti-rabies vaccine Vaxirab worth P210,404, and one vial of Equirab found during an FDA inventory. Inis said counterfeiters mainly target anti-rabies products in Davao because they are expensive. "So we are really strict with counterfeits because they really can kill," she said, speaking in Bisaya.

The FDA has not named the establishments because it is still tracing where the products came from. Inis said some sellers may not have known that what they sold was fake. Under Republic Act 8203, the Special Law on Counterfeit Drugs, sellers and distributors are liable only if they had actual or constructive knowledge that the drugs were counterfeit. The law covers the whole supply chain, from manufacturers and importers to drugstore owners and pharmacists.

Inis said confirmed counterfeit cases have declined over the years, which she credited to FDA training for pharmacists and hospitals. Health workers who give injections often report suspected fakes because they notice differences in the vial, the colour of the contents and the rubber stopper. Some hospitals flagged discrepancies before the products reached patients. The FDA's Regulatory Enforcement Unit also conducts surveillance with other law enforcement agencies.

Inis urged drugstore owners to buy only from FDA-licensed suppliers and to refuse deliveries whose receipts do not show the lot number and expiration date. She asked the public to report suspected fake medicines through the FDA website and to check product and establishment registration on the agency's online verification portal. The National Consciousness Week Against Counterfeit Medicines is observed every third week of November.