Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce stricter labeling policies for pharmaceutical companies, particularly large firms, to disclose possible adverse side effects of maintenance drugs sold in the local market.
Barbers, who chairs the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, made the appeal following reports that long-term use of maintenance medications for high blood pressure and diabetes has led to complications such as liver and kidney issues, leaving some patients sicker or even worse, dead.
“We received many reports that people taking medicines for high blood pressure or diabetes are having problems with their liver or kidney. And the big pharma and our doctors are just quiet on the developments on our health,” the lawmaker said.
If the FDA cannot issue a memorandum circular or administrative order mandating such labels, Barbers said he is prepared to draft legislation requiring pharmaceutical firms to include warnings about potential side effects on their products.
“I am no doctor nor a medical expert but the big problem is that many Filipinos are afraid or do not want to go to the doctors for a check-up or for a prescription because it is too expensive,” Barbers said.
Barbers also questioned why medical scientists employed by large pharmaceutical companies are not focusing on finding cures for common ailments.
In a 2018 biotech study, Goldman Sachs reported that curing illnesses is not a sustainable business model for most pharmaceutical firms.
