Profiteering on public health: Strictly handle, no tolerance!

Counterfeit functional foods and drugs are flooding the market, seriously affecting people's health. They need to be strictly handled and management loopholes need to be closed.

Profiteering on public health

In recent times, the domestic pharmaceutical and functional food market has witnessed a series of large-scale counterfeiting and poor-quality trade cases, causing serious consequences for people's health. What is worrying is that many counterfeit products target sensitive groups such as the elderly, pregnant women and especially young children.

Typically, on April 25, the Department of Police for Crime Prevention on Corruption, Economy, and Smuggling (C03), Ministry of Public Security, dismantled a fake functional food production and trading ring at Herbitech Technology Company Limited (headquartered in Phu Lo commune, Soc Son district, Hanoi). This facility has mass-produced health protection foods for children with loud advertisements, playing on the anxiety of parents.

Among them, two products “An ngon BABY SHARK” and “Medi Kid Calcium K2” were identified as fake, did not meet quality standards and used fake test results. It is worth mentioning that these products are publicly advertised to help children grow taller and increase intelligence, but have not been tested, potentially posing a serious risk to children's fragile health.

BABY SHARK products are counterfeited by Herbitech Technology Co., Ltd. Screenshot

Not only the Herbitech case, since the beginning of the year, authorities nationwide have discovered dozens of cases related to fake drugs, fake functional foods, fake testing documents, false advertising, and exaggerated product effects. More worryingly, many products are openly sold on social networks and e-commerce platforms, beyond the control of authorities.

Sharing with reporters of Cong Thuong Newspaper, Lawyer Diep Nang Binh - Head of Tinh Thong Luat Law Office said: " The act of producing and trading in fake functional foods and pharmaceuticals is strictly prohibited under the provisions of Point a, Clause 5, Article 6 of the 2016 Pharmacy Law. Depending on the level and nature of the act, the violator may be subject to administrative sanctions or may be prosecuted for criminal liability ."

" People who commit these acts may also have their exhibits confiscated, their licenses or practice certificates revoked for a period of 6 to 12 months in the case of multiple violations or recidivism. Remedial measures for the act of trading in counterfeit medicines are forced destruction of exhibits, forced removal from Vietnam or re-export of counterfeit goods for the act of importing counterfeit goods, and forced return of illegal profits gained from committing the violation ."

The consequences of this problem are clear: Consumers lose confidence in the health care product market; the risk of using counterfeit products increases, leading to negative health consequences, especially in vulnerable groups.

Strict handling

The consecutive incidents show that the legal system and management mechanism in the pharmaceutical and functional food sector still have many shortcomings. Although the current legal regulations exist, they are not strict enough and have not kept up with the speed of development and forms of online distribution and advertising.

Penalties for the production and trade of counterfeit goods, especially those directly affecting public health, are still light and not a strong enough deterrent. Many people still disregard the law, are willing to forge inspection certificates, and arbitrarily advertise falsely to make illegal profits.

Legal experts believe that it is necessary to review, supplement and complete the system of legal documents on the management of health protection foods and pharmaceuticals, especially products for children. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen post-inspection and tighten licensing for advertising, production and distribution.

" The fight against counterfeit drugs is a key task of the Ministry of Health in inspecting and supervising activities to prevent counterfeit drugs and drugs of unknown origin to be effective ."

" It is necessary to step up inspection and supervision of compliance with the law on pharmaceuticals and food safety of pharmaceutical and health food businesses, especially in key areas. Strengthen measures to manage wholesale and retail drug establishments in conjunction with the requirement to connect drug suppliers; only buy and sell drugs that have been granted circulation registration certificates, with invoices, documents, and origin in accordance with regulations; sell drugs according to prescriptions; strictly handle violations .

" At the same time, review and complete legal regulations to enhance the responsibility and management efficiency of relevant agencies and local authorities in the production, business, wholesale and retail of medicines and health protection foods," added Lawyer Diep Nang Binh.

Legal experts also said that organizations and individuals who deliberately violate the law must be subject to strict sanctions, including criminal prosecution, personal liability, confiscation of all evidence, and forced compensation for damages to consumers.

In addition, manufacturing and distribution enterprises also need to take responsibility for their products. Publicizing information about standard products, clear traceability, and transparency in production and testing will help restore consumer confidence in the functional food and pharmaceutical market.

Consumers also need to be alert, choose products from reputable brands with clear quality control, avoid buying products based on exaggerated advertising, and be greedy for cheap prices on social networks.

To prevent similar incidents, there needs to be close coordination between authorities in inspecting, monitoring and handling violations. At the same time, it is necessary to raise consumer awareness about choosing products with clear origin, licensed and quality tested.

Strictly handling the production and trading of fake functional foods is not only a deterrent but also a way to protect the rights and health of consumers, contributing to building a healthy and sustainable functional food market.

Nguyen Thanh

Source: https://congthuong.vn/truc-loi-tren-suc-khoe-cong-dong-xu-ly-nghiem-khong-khoan-nhuong-384950.html