Claris, good luck for ur blood test on monday! Excited and anxious for u
Just wanna share an article in today's news:
HSA seizes $18,000 of illegal medicines
Straits Times
(c) 2012 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
ABOUT $18,000 worth of illegal medicines have been seized by local health authorities taking part in a global operation aimed at online peddlers. The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) seized close to 13,000 units of products such as tablets, capsules and strips.
Ten people are being investigated for selling the unregistered, counterfeit and adulterated items. HSA's clampdown is part of Operation Pangea, involving 99 countries and 190 agencies. It is coordinated by global entities such as Interpol and the World Customs Organisation as well as the pharmaceutical and electronic-payment industries. This is the fifth year HSA is taking part. Between Sept 25 and Oct 2, it intensified the monitoring of discussion forums, blogs, auction sites, online classified advertisements and company portals offering medicines and health goods.
It also screened 38 websites to check for contraventions under the Medicines Act, Poisons Act and Health Products Act. Of these, 15 sites were found to be selling illegal health products such as oral contraceptives, weight-loss items and medical devices from contact lenses and condoms to <u> pregnancy test strips.</u>
Action was taken against the offenders. Dr Raymond Chua, group director of HSA's health products regulation group, urged the public not to buy from unreliable sources. "There is no guarantee that products purchased online are genuine or safe as it is difficult to verify the authenticity of any website, supplier or health product," he said.
Dr Chua added that consumers should be discerning as illegal or counterfeit products could cause greater harm to their health. When in doubt, they should always consult a doctor or pharmacist for medical advice. In a recent case, a 22-year-old woman was fined $19,000, the most severe penalty handed to date to an individual for selling illegal health products online. About 3,000 units of an assortment of oral contraceptives, condoms and <u> pregnancy test kits </u> , with a street value of about $6,000, were seized from her. This was the first case involving the illegal sale of medicinal products and medical devices online.