Drugs withdrawal confusing<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government's recall of 100 nutritional supplements
\nproduced by Pan Pharmaceuticals of Australia has caused confusion
\namong vendors and consumers because of a lack of information on
\nthe decision.<\/p>\n
An employee at the Sumberwaras drugstore in Tebet, South
\nJakarta, Linda, said she was confused by the government's order
\nto pull the products from the shelves.<\/p>\n
\"We still have six nutritional supplements produced by a
\nnumber of Australian companies, including Pan. I don't know
\nwhether only the Pan products will be recalled or all of them,\"
\nshe told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
One woman said she sometimes purchased imported herbal and
\nvitamin pills.<\/p>\n
\"They are not Pan Pharmaceuticals products, but are
\nmanufactured by an Australian-based company. I don't know whether
\nthey are still safe to use because there is no information about
\nthe products.<\/p>\n
\"For now I've decided to stop using supplements, imported or
\nnot,\" she said while making a purchase at another drugstore in
\nTebet.<\/p>\n
The Food and Drug Monitoring Body (BPOM) ordered the recall
\nafter Australian authorities suspended Pan's license over
\nallegations the company used raw materials that had not been
\ntested for safety and that it had manipulated laboratory results.<\/p>\n
Many users of Pan's products have reportedly become ill, in
\nmany cases seriously, suffering from hallucinations and suicidal
\nthoughts.<\/p>\n
Canberra ordered Pan, the country's largest nonprescription
\ndrug company, to halt operations for six months and recalled 668
\nof its products, many of which are exported to dozens of
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
Marius Widjajarto of the Indonesian Health Consumers
\nEmpowerment Foundation urged BPOM to provide more information to
\nput an end to the confusion among vendors and consumers.<\/p>\n
\"It was a lie when BPOM chairman Sampurno said that none of
\nthe recalled products could be purchased over-the-counter
\nanymore, because many of the distributors registered with his
\noffice are fictitious. So how can he say all of the products were
\nrecalled within a day?\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ida Marlinda of the food supplement division at the
\nIndonesian Consumers Foundation advised people that according to
\nthe consumer protection law they were entitled to return the
\nrecalled products, along with a receipt, to the store from which
\nthey were purchased for a refund.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/drugs-withdrawal-confusing-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}