SINGAPORE: Singapore authorities seized more than 60,000 units of illegal health products and removed the listings of more than 4,600 such products from local e-commerce and social media platforms during a week-long operation.
The illegal health products were seized at checkpoints and listings were removed during the enforcement operation coordinated by Interpol between Oct 3 and Oct 10. A total of 89 countries took part in this year’s operation.
During the week, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) worked with local enforcement agencies to seize 60,372 illegal health products, including sexual enhancement products, sedatives, herbal supplements and pain management products.Â
In one case, HSA was alerted to 32 boxes of a brand of “placenta product”, which were detected at SingPost Centre by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.
The boxes were labelled to contain injectables of placenta and marketed for aesthetic purposes. The product was reportedly “made in Switzerland” and claimed to be “anti-ageing, remove wrinkles and rejuvenate cells”.Â
“However, investigations revealed that neither the product nor the company that made it was registered in Switzerland,” said HSA, adding that the case was referred to Interpol for follow-up with the relevant overseas authorities.Â
The illegal products that were sold online or detected at the checkpoints have not been evaluated or approved by HSA, it said.Â
“They may also be adulterated with potent medicinal ingredients. As such, there is no assurance of their safety, quality and efficacy.
“Additionally, some of these products should only be prescribed by doctors for their patients, or administered only by qualified medical practitioners,” said HSA.Â
If not used or administered correctly, these products can lead to serious adverse events, the authority added.
WARNING TO SUPPLIERS, SELLERS
It is illegal to sell prescription-only medicine and medical devices, as well as adulterated health products on local e-commerce platforms.
“HSA takes a serious view against those engaged in the illegal sale and supply of these products and will take strong enforcement action against such persons.”Â
If convicted, they may be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$100,000, or both.
In one case in May, a 23-year-old woman was fined S$23,000 (US$16,800) for selling and administering unregistered products to people as an aesthetic procedure without a licence.Â
The product, Di Sai Mi Song Ling Suan Na Zhu She Ye, which the woman sold on Instagram, was tested to contain dexamethasone phosphate.Â
Dexamethasone phosphate is a prescription-only steroid that can only be administered by qualified medical practitioners.Â
In January, a 27-year-old man was sentenced to seven weeks’ jail for peddling 19 types of unregistered medicines on Instagram and Telegram.
These included codeine tablets and syrup, which are prescription-only medicines for cough, and sildenafil tablets. Sildenafil tablets are prescription-only medicines for treating erectile dysfunction.
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HSA advised members of the public not to buy prescription-only medicines online, such as erectile dysfunction and weight loss medication.
“These medicines can only be obtained from doctors or from pharmacists with a doctor’s prescription as they contain potent ingredients that can cause serious adverse effects if taken unsupervised.”
If the products are obtained from other sources, they can be fake, even if the medicine and packaging look the same. The products may also be contaminated, contain the wrong ingredient or wrong amount of ingredient, or contain no active ingredient.Â
“As a result, your condition may go untreated and worsen. Consult your doctor for chronic conditions such as erectile dysfunction and obesity. Your doctor can advise on appropriate treatments,” said HSA.
People are also advised not to buy or use any do-it-yourself aesthetic beauty injectable kits, as these kits have not been evaluated for safety, quality and efficacy by HSA.Â
“They may contain unverified and potentially harmful ingredients or toxic chemicals and carry infectious organisms,” said HSA.Â
Dermal fillers and botulinum toxin injections are health products that require HSA’s approval before they can be supplied and should be administered by qualified medical practitioners, it added.Â
Consumers should also exercise caution when buying health products such as supplements and cosmetic products online.Â
“They may be cheaper and appear to offer better value, but the lower price could be due to unsafe or inferior ingredients, poor manufacturing methods and substandard or unhygienic storage conditions.
“They could also be adulterated with harmful or banned ingredients such as steroids,” said HSA.Â
HSA also reminded consumers to be wary of health products that promise quick and miraculous results, or those that carry exaggerated claims such as “100 per cent safe”, “no side effects”, “quick effects” or “scientifically proven”.Â
“They can contain potent medicinal ingredients that can harm your health. Do not trust online product reviews, as these testimonials usually cannot be verified,” said the agency.Â
When buying health products online, consumers should buy them from reputable retailers’ websites or those with an established retail presence in Singapore.Â