Ties compromise FDA, DoH fairness
Recently, President Rodrigo Duterte issued a directive for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to hold crinical trials on the drug Ivermectin which has strong public clamor behind it as a prophylaxis against the dreaded coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Despite the strong call for the popular medication to be expertly examined mainly to free up its availability in the market, the FDA chose to drag its feet, saying the approved for Ivermectin is only for animal use to prevent heartworm disease and treat parasite infestation and not for treatment of Covid-19.
Mr. Duterte’s order also overturned the previous stance of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) and the Department of Health (DoH) that there is no need for local trial since over 40 global studies on the drug are being conducted.
The President wanted to find out if there is enough evidence to back the use of Ivermectin to treat Covid-19 which has long been the call of many groups including those in the business sector in the search of an affordable cure for the malaise that led to many accusations that the FDA and even the
DoH had acted in behalf of foreign interests.
Industry groups raised suspicions the DoH and the FDA have been soliciting money from foreign charities such as Bloomberg Philanthropies that may have affected their objectivity.
Bloomberg grant
For instance, FDA in regulating electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTP), admitted during a legislative probe on 16 March 2021 that it applied for a grant in 2016 and received money the following year from a foreign anti-tobacco organization called the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), funded by Bloomberg, to fund the drafting of policies towards vape and heated tobacco.
Vaper Ako, Nicotine Consumers Union of the Philippines (NCUP) and the Philippine E-cigarette Industry Association (PECIA) raised the alarm on foreign vested interest groups’ influence on local regulations.
“The FDA, an attached agency of the DoH which was tasked to prepare the implementing guidelines for the regulation of vapor products and HTP, should have not approached and collected money from The Union and Bloomberg Philanthropies in the first place, because these organizations were known for advancing their own anti-vaping agenda globally,” Nicotine Consumers Union of the Philippines (NCUP) President Anton Israel said.
Congress should consider passing laws that prohibit foreign non-government organizations with vested interests from providing grants to regulatory agencies in the Philippines such as the FDA, according to the groups.
FDA Director-General Rolando Enrique Domingo admitted collecting money from the foreign group. He told the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability hearing that the regulatory agency secured a grant of $150,430 (P7.5 million) from The Union mainly to hire “job order” employees who would draft the tobacco control policies of the agency.
“We worked with the World Health Organization, the Asian Development Bank, and non-government organizations such as the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union),” Domingo said during the hearing.
While the amount was reasonable, conflict of interest was very evident in the FDA arrangement.
What would have stopped FDA from acquiring funding from big pharmaceutical firms, which are raking in profit from the global rush for vaccines, to craft policies that would stamp down chances of cheap alternative medicines to be sold in the market posing direct competition with the potential cash cows which are the vaccines.