Australian doctor Adam Smith or “Doc Adam” considered it a victory when the Philippine Food and Drug Administration warned the public against selling and buying five of Filipino doctor Farrah Agustin-Bunch‘s dietary supplements.
The Filipino-speaking Australian doctor-vlogger on Sunday uploaded a video on his YouTube channel where he announced that the agency on November 27 released advisories against certain products under Agustin-Bunch’s names.
Titled “Goodbye Dr. Farrah,” Smith noted that FDA has warned all healthcare professionals and the general public to refrain from purchasing and consuming the following dietary supplements:
- Dr. F Lightning in a Bottle Dietary Supplement
- Dr. F Doctor’s Shake Dietary Supplement
- Dr. F Mega dose Vitamin C Dietary Supplement
- Dr. F Pixie Dust Magnesium Dietary Supplement
- Dr. F Boston C Concentrate Dietary Supplement
Advisories against the Filipino doctor’s products were issued through Advisories No. 2020-2057, 2020-2058 and 2020-2055.
FDA said that the dietary supplements were “not registered” and had “no corresponding Certificates of Product Registration (CPR)” issued.
A CPR ensures that the product has passed the regulatory agency’s standards before it could be released in the market.
FDA cited Republic Act 9711 or the Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009 which states that manufacturing, importing, exporting, selling, offering to sell, distributing, transferring, non-consumer usage, promoting, advertising or sponsoring such health products without proper authorization are prohibited.
“Since these unregistered food supplements and food products have not gone through evaluation process of the FDA, the agency cannot assure its quality and safety,” the regulatory body said in one of its advisories.
“All concerned establishments are warned not to distribute, advertise, or sell the said violative food supplements and food products until CPR are issued, otherwise regulatory actions and sanctions shall be strictly pursued,” FDA added.
Law enforcement agencies and local government units are advised to make sure that these products are not sold or made available in the market.
The Bureau of Customs is also urged to restrain the entry of the products in the country.
‘Goodbye Dr. Farrah’
Meanwhile, Smith’s video landed in Reddit Philippines’ trending list on Tuesday after he mentioned that FDA has issued advisories against some of Agustin-Bunch’s products.
Smith’s supporters took these advisories as victory after he faced legal troubles when Agustin-Bunch and Leo Ortiz had filed lawsuits against him over some of his YouTube videos in October.
In November, the Australian medical vlogger made a comeback and said that he was waiting for Agustin-Bunch to “debunk” his medical findings on her product.
READ: ‘I’m back’: After YouTube hiatus, Australian Doc Adam returns with a challenge to Doc Farrah
Smith has been sharing healthcare information, advice and tips to his YouTube subscribers since 2017, based on his more than 10 years of experience as a medical practitioner.
He used to visit the Philippines through medical missions and had since learned to speak in Filipino.
On the other hand, Agustin-Bunch is a doctor who promotes natural medicine through social media. Her establishment in Tarlac was closed in 2018 after it was found to be selling unregistered health products.
She has not yet issued a response about FDA’s recent tagging of some of her supplements but on November 2, she acknowledged the criticisms against her.
“Negative professional criticism, especially in social media, serves no purpose other than to express ill will, affect the interests of others, and tarnish the image of one’s professional colleagues,” Agustin-Bunch wrote on her Facebook page early November.
“I’m not claiming to be right and anyone else be wrong. I simply believe that as a result of consistent long-term medical investigation, I have continued to learn and grow as a Doctor. As such, ideas that I had once firmly held were shaken free with the overabundance of contrary evidence,” Agustin-Bunch added.
