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Villagomez worried over ‘misuse’ of imported antibiotics
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Posted on Feb 03 1999
The CNMI government must enforce stricter rules on importation of foreign-made antibiotics because they are potential health threat to users and may make the local health care system more financially burdened according to Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez.
Users of antibiotics imported from the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, China, Bangladesh, among others, may develop so-called resistance-strain bacteria, he said.
A sick individual with this type of bacteria is more difficult to treat and may require more expensive drugs, he explained.
“Imported antibiotics have direct impact on the cost of our drugs here. If it’s inappropriately used and you develop a resistance-strain bacteria, when you get sick and you come to the hospital, we’ll be forced to use much more expensive drugs to treat you,” Villagomez said.
He said authorities must ensure that only authorized health professionals like doctors and pharmacists dispense imported antibiotics.
“I’m not questioning the drug itself, its how it was dispensed. If you’re not properly educated about what it can and cannot do, the potential to misuse the drug is there,” he said.
Reports have reached the Department of Public Health that some local drug stores are allegedly selling imported antibiotics without asking for medical prescriptions.
It has also reached the attention of the local health department that some mom and pop stores sell imported drugs whose text information have no English translation.
A team of health inspectors has been sent on field to go after the alleged violators. Villagomez admitted several boxes of antibiotics have since been seized.
The local health secretary said next to imported antibiotics, they are closely monitoring individuals believed practicing medicine or are prescribing drugs without the appropriate license to do so.
He did not elaborate further.
