Jakarta, Sept 12 (Antara) - People must be careful when consuming
herbal medicines and drugs, as some already in circulation are illegal
and contain inappropriate doses of chemical substances, which are
dangerous to health.
The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) called on the public to
purchase medicines in licensed drug stores in order to guarantee that
the drugs they purchase are legal products.
Of the 3,656 illegal products confiscated by the BPOM during its
operations in the June-August 2014 period, a total of 1,520 items were
illegal traditional medicines, particularly herbal medicines.
Many violations have been committed, including mixing raw materials of
medicines with the raw materials of herbal medicines and printing
fictitious license numbers on the package of the products and
circulating or selling them to the public illegally.
"The
results of laboratory tests have revealed that the confiscated
traditional medicines contained drug chemicals, such as paracetamol,
dexamethasone, fenilbutason, and sildenafil," BPOM Head Roy A. Sparringa
stated on Thursday.
To help fight against illegal drugs, the BPOM has called on the people
to play an active role by reporting to the authorities if they come
across illegal products, as such drugs are dangerous to health.
He
said consuming the illegal traditional medicines can cause damage to
the liver and kidneys, or even cause heart failure and death.
Besides
medicines and raw materials, the PBOM had also confiscated production
equipment, all of which will be destroyed after the court issues a
verdict or ruling.
Roy
noted that the confiscated illegal products totaled 3,656 items, which
included 173 illegal drugs, 1,520 traditional medicines, and 1,963 kinds
of cosmetics.
The values of the confiscated products reached Rp31.6 billion produced
through 154 production and distribution sources. "We examined many
production and distribution sources. The economic values they have can
reach more than Rp1 billion for one region," Roy said.
"We launched the operations through 31 BPOM branches across the
country, assisted by police and officials from the Customs and Excise
Directorate General. We were successful in confiscating illegal drugs,
illegal traditional medicines, including those containing chemical
substances, and illegal cosmetics," Roy Sparringa told a press
conference.
After assessing the value of the illegal products confiscated per
province, the BPOM estimated that the economic value of the illegal
products reached Rp801 million in Pekanbar, Riau Province; Rp680 million
in Medan, North Sumatra Province; Rp557 million in Banjarmasin, South
Kalimantan Province; Rp450 million in Batam, Riau Islands Province; and
Rp300 million in Semarang, Central Java Province.
"The confiscated products are currently being held at the offices of
the BPOM in the respective provinces where the illegal products were
discovered," he said.
He stated that currently about 57 cases had been transferred for legal
process, while 97 cases are still being investigated to collect evidence
before being handed over to the police.
"One
alleged violator has been named as a suspect and has been held at the
cell of the National Police's Criminal Investigation Department
(Bareskrim Polri)," explained Roy.
In the meantime, BPOM Head for Medan, North Sumatra, Ali Bata Harahap,
reported that his office had also confiscated illegal drugs during a
two-day operation dubbed as Operation Storm.
He stated that the products his office had confiscated were illegal
drugs worth Rp560 thousand, unlicensed traditional medicines valued at
Rp634 million, and illegal cosmetics worth Rp51 million.
"So,
the total value of the confiscated products is over Rp686 million. We
suspect the traditional medicines contain drug chemical substance, while
the cosmetics are believed to contain mercury, which is dangerous to
health," Ali noted.
He said further investigations will be conducted to determine whether
the products have come from abroad. "The products might seem to have
been imported, but indeed they are produced domestically. Our
preliminary investigation has revealed that some are foreign goods and
some others are domestic," asserted Ali.
The BPOM official explained that his office had conducted routine
inspection of production sources and shopping centers with the intention
of protecting people from consuming illegal products.
"We conduct pre- and post-market monitoring in order to protect people
from food and drugs that are injurious to health," he noted.
Ali cautioned the people to be careful in buying drugs and food because
purchasing the wrong goods will endanger their health. "Consumers must
be smart, so that they only purchase drugs and foods in licensed drug
stores and shops. They should not buy from every place that sells
cosmetics. They should also examine whether the goods have BPOM
registration labels," he advised.
In Surabaya, East Java, the BPOM had also confiscated thousands of illegal drug packages.
Head
of BPOM for Surabaya I Ngurah Bagus Kusuma Dewa said on Monday that
illegal drugs had been confiscated from five districts--Sidoarjo,
Gresik, Bojonegoro, Malang, and Lamongan.
The illegal drugs were confiscated during a joint operation with the East Java regional police.
"During
the operation, apparatuses had confiscated illegal traditional
medicines, cosmetics, and other strong drugs," I Ngurah stated.
He pointed out that they had confiscated 344 cartons, with 676 items or 91,891 packages.
"The value of the confiscated goods is estimated at Rp1.6 billion," Surabaya BPOM chief stated.
The Surabaya authorities will further investigate the illegal products,
particularly the sources of their production. "However, the goods will
not be tested in laboratories because it is evident that the contents of
the goods are illegal, as they are not labeled with licenses for their
circulation," I Ngurah added.***1***
(T.A014/INE)
EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 12-09-2014 22:48: |
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