Govt orders withdrawal of 78 dugs from market
Govt orders withdrawal of 78 dugs from market
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government has ordered the withdrawal of 78 brands of
traditional drugs that contain hazardous chemical substances.
Head of the Food and Drug Control Agency (BPOM) Sampurno said
on Thursday that his agency had ordered the producers of 39
registered and 39 unregistered drugs to pull their products from
the shelves. The drugs vary from medicine to relieve muscle aches
to sexual performance enhancers.
"The producers have intentionally used chemical substances
that give artificial therapy that they claim to cure diseases
quickly. But instead of curing, their drugs can cause other
health problems," Sampurno told a press conference.
Citing an example, Serbuk No. 1, a drug produced by Candi Mas
Purba Salma in the Central Java town of Cilacap is said to
increase weight, but it contains deksametason that could cause
kidney and liver problems.
Other blacklisted traditional drugs include Jamu Kuat Lelaki
No. 5, a supposed sexual performance enhancer, Jamu Darah Tinggi
No. 6 advertised to cure hypertension, both produced by Suharto
Jaya Dipa in Bandung. Then there were the rheumatism drugs Pegal
Linu, Serbuk Manjur Sehat Perempuan produced by Serbuk Manjur
Jaya in Cilacap, and a slimming drug called Jamu Merlin
Pelangsing Badan by Air Pusaka Kaligadung, which was produced in
the Central Java town of Banyumas.
BPOM estimated that there were about 10,000 local and imported
traditional drugs and herbal medicines across the country.
Mixing chemical substances with traditional drugs is a
violation of Law No. 23/1992 on Health and of Law No. 8/1999 on
Consumer Protection. The violation carries a maximum jail
sentence of five years or a fine of Rp 2 billion (US$222,000).
Sampurno said, so far only three producers in Cilacap and one
in Jakarta had been brought to court, with one of them sentenced
to three months in prison.
Many other producers who were found to have violated the laws
could not yet be tried as BPOM had only discovered evidence on
the market but not in their factories.
"We will try a two-pronged approach to get rid of the drugs.
First, announce the banned drugs to the public so people will not
buy them and second, bring the producers to justice when evidence
is sufficient," Sampurno said.
He said BPOM had been intensively cracking down on the
distribution of hazardous traditional drugs since early this
month. The operation will be completed at the end of this month.
During the operation, various traditional drugs in 26 regions
underwent tests. BPOM has so far only discovered violations in
Jakarta, Bandung, Cilacap, Banyumas and three areas in East Java;
Banyuwangi, Nganjuk and Madura.
Before the ban on tradition drugs, BPOM had prohibited 100
types of imported vitamin supplements from Australia from being
distributed here.
BPOM also announced that it had tested the quality of 95
drinking water refill depots, which are now proliferating in big
cities.
"At least 19 of them are not qualified as their water quality
is below the national standard," Sampurno said.
The unqualified depots include four depots in Jakarta, two in
Tangerang (Banten), six in Medan (North Sumatra) and six in
Surabaya (East Java).