Unregistered medicines seized, public told to be cautious

SEREMBAN: Health authorities have urged the public to be wary of unregistered medicines and unnotified cosmetic products after 90 such items worth almost RM218,000 were seized in raids here.

Acting Negri Sembilan Health director Dr Mohammad Faid Abd Rashid said preliminary investigations revealed that these products were also being marketed in Pahang and Johor.

He said the products, which included unregistered traditional and over-the-counter medicines, were seized from two houses and a car on Oct 21. No arrests were made.

“People need to be extra careful when buying health and cosmetic products and have to be certain that these products comply with the legal requirements,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Dr Mohammad Faid added that the raids were jointly conducted by the Health Ministry’s Pharmacy Enforcement Division as well as the state Health Department and Narcotics Crime Investigation Department.

He said first-time individual offenders can be fined up to RM25,000 and jailed a maximum of three years or both upon conviction under the Sale of Drugs Act 1952.

For subsequent offences, they can be fined up to RM50,000 and jailed not more than five years or both.

Companies can be fined up to RM50,000 for the first offence and up to RM100,000 for subsequent offences.

It is an offence for anyone to manufacture or import a cosmetic product without prior notification to the Director of Pharmaceutical Services.

“On its part, the ministry will continue to carry out enforcement activities at premises that sell these products to ensure they are registered and genuine,” said Dr Mohammad Faid.

He said the ministry had in 2019 introduced a FarmaTagTM hologram security label for all registered products to enable consumers to check their authenticity.

Consumers can also check if the label is genuine by using the Farmachecker app that can be downloaded from the Google Play Store, AppStore and Huawei AppGallery.

Dr Mohammad Faid said consumers can also verify the product registration number and notification of a cosmetic product at www.npra.gov.my or by contacting the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency at 03-78835400 or by downloading the NPRA Product Status app.