Public cautioned about Chinese drugs vs COVID-19

CEBU, Philippines —  The Department of Health (DOH) has cautioned the public to seek expert medical opinion before taking any medicine, including herbal medication, following the move of the Food and Drug Administration – Philippines to approve the Chinese drug Lianhua Qingwen, an approved treatment for mild and moderate COVID-19 cases in China.

The DOH said that just because a medicine has FDA approval doesn’t mean it is also approved by the health department.

Earlier, the Chinese Embassy in Manila through its social media page expressed elation over FDA’s approval of the drug produced by one of China’s renowned Traditional Chinese Medicine (#TCM) manufacturers, Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

“This marks an important progress in the entry of TCM products into the Philippine market, which we welcome,” part of the post says.

FDA Director General Eric Domingo clarified, however, that Lianhua Qingwen was not approved as a COVID-19 drug here but only as a traditional Chinese medicine and prescription drug, and not as a therapeutic drug.

The FDA stressed it is indicated in the CPR that the Chinese drug can help remove heat toxin invasion of the lungs, including symptoms such as fever, aversion to cold, muscle soreness, and stuffy and runny nose.

Domingo said local distributors cannot place in the product’s label that it can be a cure for COVID-19.

 “To have it included in the DOH (Department of Health) protocol will take a lot of health processes. It has to undergo health assessment, it has to be double-checked as a medicine,” Domingo explained.

He also noted that the drug manufacturer is restricted from putting in the packaging that it is an anti-COVID product because “there’s no medicine yet for us labeled” as such.

Caution

Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, chief pathologist and COVID-19 spokesperson of DOH-7, cautioned about the components of the medicine.

She said there two components of Lianhua Qingwen that may trigger more illness than cure – ephedrine and glycyrrhiza.

“Ephedrine, which can lead to kidney stone formation so medyo delikado na siya if naa kay problem sa heart. It can cause abnormal heart rhythm or arrhythmia,” Loreche said.

This may lso lead to partial paralysis.

“And imong heart, dili mu-beat kaayo ug ensakto,” she added.

Loreche also said that the public should also be wary of glycyrriza.

“Magbantay pud ta sa glycyrrhiza niya, which can cause, actually, munaog atong potassium level, maong mag-hypokalemia kita,” she said.

If one also has problems with blood pressure, components of the traditional Chinese medicine can reportedly increase blood pressure, and hypertension can be compounded.

“So importante, even it says na FDA approved, it does not mean that it is very safe for us to use. We need to seek medical consultations first,” Loreche said.

With no vaccine or medicine for COVID-19 available just yet, the best way to combat COVID-19 is prevention – that is, observing health protocols like wearing of mask, social distancing, and regular washing of hands.

Meanwhile, DOH said that rapid antibody-based test kits are not recommended as a “stand-alone test” for the diagnosis of COVID-19 and that the RT-PCR remains the gold standard for confirmatory test of the disease.

Because of this, DOH does not recommend the use of the rapid antibody test in screening, return-to-work decisions, and even entry-to-country or even provinces’ policies or similar use.

The World Health Organization has also recommended that rapid test shall be used in research settings only, including in clinical decision-making until evidence supporting use for specific indications will be available. — JMO (FREEMAN)