Researcher: What are the most common counterfeit products in the Philippines in terms of drugs?

Respondent no. 1: First we have anti-biotics, then we have anti-hyper intensives which is a cure

for high blood.

Respondent no. 2: Just for my own knowledge and opinion sir, regarding to the brands of these

counterfeit medicines which is commonly circulating, I do not have one to specify but mostly

when it comes to classifications of these drugs, it is common po to have household medications

such as anti-diarrhea, cough medications, sometimes antibiotic which also produces proliferation

in counterfeiting, anti-hyper intensives for blood pressure and there’s also what you called in the

internet, the supplement for males just like Viagra, just like that I think they are common which

has counterfeiting for me.

Respondent no. 3: the drugs which are commonly used for illnesses like paracetamol, Viagra they

are most commonly used by people.

Respondent no. 4: Anti-pyretic drugs or paracetamol

Respondent no. 5: The most common counterfeit drugs are paracetamol, anti-biotics and Viagra

or other forms of male enhancer. These are commonly acquired thru online purchase. They are

bought without prescription and have an easy access to its availability. If you browse the internet,

there are hundreds of sellers offering availability without prescription of these medicines. For the

paracetamol, there are small time stores or “sari-sari” stores selling paracetamol. For the anti-

biotics, there are small drugstores in the community selling anti-biotics medicines without

prescription, an easy access to a prescribed medicine. Some of these medicines have entered the

country through the form of smuggled goods. It entered the Bureau of Customs but somehow, it

was mis declared as other items and not medicines. Genuine medicines are considered counterfeit

if it does not pass the required approval of the FDA.

Researcher: Okay ma’am/sir, how about the medicine brand on anti-biotic at anti-hypertension

which are considered as fake?

Respondent no. 1: I don’t have quite information on their brand names but commonly what are

they producing as fake are from the multinational drug companies.

Respondent no. 2: Sir, maybe it’s my right not to mention any brand names because it can cause

us any legal issues and the rest, I will give some evidences to show but as I told earlier to you that

we mention some classifications which for me is considered as counterfeiting.

Respondent no. 3: they are like drug companies such as Pfizer and Unilab which produces

biogesic

Respondent no. 4: biogesic, calpol

Respondent no. 5: For the paracetamol –usually are counterfeited Unilab brands, for the Viagra

– Pfeizer, for the Anti-biotics – several branded manufacturers

Researcher: So how do you determine if the product is counterfeit or genuine

Respondent no. 1: Commonly, there are problems with their packaging which is likely package

for only a cent and if we open the tablet, they are more likely to be in powder, hindi baga matigas

akala mo baga paghipo mo ay ganon ang gamot ay napulbos na nadurog na agad

Respondent no. 2: First of all, as a consumer, I think it is better to doubt in an instance that there

are cheapness in the products if it is really genuine or counterfeit most likely if the cost of the

medications is very cheap. Aside from that, I think it’s the representation of the drugs in terms of

the label and there is no such forfeitness of its label, for example, it is just label as a tablet or a

capsule which are dispense on us if there is really a label, there is a label but what we must see is
that it is BFAD approve or if it is properly manufactured drugs because mostly it is a medicine

company or a pharmaceutical company where they also invest in the packaging of their drugs, that

is how we considered if the product is counterfeit or not.

Respondent no. 3: it is easy to determine if the product is unusual, the price is low and the

labelling, how it is packaged is not in its pure quality.

Respondent no. 4: Ah for my experience it’s on the logo of the medication… Hmm… Ah you

should have the ah manufacturer’s logo in the back of the medications

Respondent no. 5: Initially you can determine if it’s counterfeit by the price. The price is too far

from the original. Second is the kind of labelling. Most often than not, there are misspelled words

in the labelling.

Researcher: What are the impacts of the common counterfeit products in the health and safety of

the public? What are the impacts of counterfeit products in health?

Respondent no. 1: What it complies with the people or the patient in unimaginable situation

because we don’t know what will happen with the patient, we also don’t know what is the content

of the medicine which can be a flour or starch, but how we will know if it has some bad intention

not only on the buyer itself but the worse is that they wanted the patients to swallow other

chemicals or any substance which can harm other people.

Respondent no. 2: On people’s health, it has a big impact because that medicine can be considered

as fake drugs nyan or the medications which we can buy will not address our illness or disease, it

will not cure po probably because it may worsen the patients’s condition which can also result to

death for instance that those anti-biotics which are counterfeit is good for all and as a nurse, it must

be based on our knowledge which can be developed o wht we called as drug resistance and if it
happens, the drug resistance of the patient that it resolve to cure but it’s effect is the resistance on

the medicine because it is fake so if the materials are fake, there can be component or formula

risks which is not discussed further.

Respondent no. 3: there is no effect because it is no considered as a medicine as a treatment in

no. 1 case which can result not to take the necessary medicine

Respondent no. 4: its impact in the health ah health is the body, it can be harmful for the health

and may cause life threatening situation because there is a chemical ingredients in the medications

that could be harmful and interact with the body

Respondent no. 5: Taking in counterfeit drugs will not cure patients with illness even if the

ingredients have no side effect or in the non-toxic powder form. It will only be worse thinking

that you will be cured.

Researcher: What are the impacts of counterfeit drugs in terms of the safety?

Respondent no. 1: In this matter, it is added to our population which is very bad not only because

of the high risk situation but because we will not know if it really genuine or because it will add

to your feeling not to be sick or take any medicine.

Respondent no. 2: We considered safety and health almost the same but when it comes to safety,

it is consider economically unsafe, because the economic safety of the consumers is what we

prioritized here because they are paying because it is not free to have the drugs but they are paying

for less or is not appropriate as a remedy to the one they called so the economic has also an impact

but mostly on health is that in its individual, the impact is that it can be fake or counterfeit products.

Respondent no. 3: It is dangerous because there are some drugs which not a medicine at all which

can deliver you to death.

Respondent no. 4: It’s impact in health, ah health of the body community is it can harmful for the

health and may cause life threatening situation, there’s a chemical ingredient in the ah ehm

medications that could be harmful and interact with the body

Respondent no. 5: Taking counterfeit drugs may result to death. More so if the ingredients are

toxic or dirty. Most of the counterfeit drugs are being done at the backyards with no safety

measures at all but profit.

Researcher: What do you think are the reason of proliferation counterfeit products in the

Philippines

Respondent no. 1: What I think is the enforcement agency and our regulating agency, is who they

are, it not the police but the FDA, others may considered the DOH and that’s the reason of all, the

poverty, our lack of money which they considered more the cheaper brands which maybe fake or

not appropriate as a medicine then the laxity of our enforcement agency and the regulating agency

because it is in the operations of the license of the pharmacy we seen this agency just to renew

without inspection just like an announcement, so it is not possible for them to trade fake medicine

wishing that those agencies will take charge seriously and there is a concrete announcement so

that this pharmacies cannot prepare and those seller ad their fake medicine will be abolished.

Respondent no. 2: Just like what I told earlier, the cheapness makes consumers more overwhelm,

most of them will result to buy cheap products as a result not knowing the fact that it has a big pala

impact in the end in their health ad their safety. Aside from being cheap is the accessibility

sometimes is accommodated easily.

Respondent no. 3: Aside from the expensive price of the drugs is what they gain from market
share of the drugs they bought in the public.