Safety First

It has came to my attention that certain medications or medication ingredients, that are banned in other countries due to their adverse and harmful effects, are still being sold here in the Phililippines. Reading the column Toral: Drug safety opened up my mind to this alarming fact which could actually jeopardize the health and overall wellness of the Filipino people who consume such products.

Health is a very serious thing to consider and the health department of the government could actually look into certain issues like drug safety more closely. How come that there are medication ingredients that are prohibited overseas, continually circulate in the Philippine market today?  

For instance, Saridon  has been cited as unsafe for its new formulation has propyphenazone that can have negative side-effects to those who take it. Propyphenazone ingredient is already restricted from countries like Korea, Malaysia and Thailand. The World Health Organization on its statement about propyphenazone : "Propyphenazone, a pyrazolone derivative with anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activity, was introduced in 1951 for the treatment of rheumatic disorders. As it is structurally related to aminophenazone it has been associated with severe blood dyscrasias. However, it cannot be transformed into potentially carcinogenic nitrosamines and has therefore been widely used as a replacement drug for aminophenazone. In certain countries, products containing propyphenazone have now been restricted in their indications, whereas in others they are still available, sometimes as over-the-counter preparations.” This is really something that we need to take consideration on.

Furthermore, another medication which is still readily available in the market today called Sinutab Extra Strength  contains an ingredient which is said to be hazardous. The said medication contains phenylpropanolamine which exposes whoever consumes it to hemorrhagic risk, especially women. The said chemical is not recommended in the US.

With these two medications that are imposing a threat to the wellness of the Filipinos, it is high time for the health department to reexamine closely the approved medications that are circulating in the market today. Maybe a review on the ingredients utilized in medicines, and taking a second look into their possible effects, is essential in order to further elevate the quality of products being sold in the country. The medications we have in our pharmacies should be safe enough for every Filipino people to consume. More to that, the companies who released these medications in the market should be responsible enough to properly issue the concrete facts and information regarding their products for the government to properly identify what is hazardous and not.

You could check out some of the banned medicines on Banned medicine blog and help spread the news and uphold the awareness of the safeness of the medicines out in the market today. 

Original post: Safety First