KUALA LUMPUR – Putrajaya Hospital consultant physician and nephrologist Dr Rafidah Abdullah did not mince her words warning celebrities and Islamic scholars against peddling health remedies claiming to heal serious diseases.
She said she will not hesitate to correct misinformation in a bid to educate the Malaysian public.
“So, before you agree to be any product ambassador, please do your due diligence. If they are ‘health products’, I suggest you don’t get involved.
“It doesn’t matter who the founder is. Remember, a medical doctor cannot be a founder of anything,” she said in a Facebook post yesterday.
She added that even if the health product is produced by a medical officer, it is an offence to advertise or sell the products.
The Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956 is an act that forecloses advertising related to medical matters and regulates the sale of substances recommended as medicine.
It also states that food, medical device, and cosmetic ads can be sanctioned if they advertise the 20 prohibited diseases as stipulated by the act.
Among the diseases listed are diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, sexual dysfunction and infertility.
Rafidah also urged Malaysians to read the guidelines issued by the Health Ministry as every health product ad is issued an approval number (KKLIU) by the Medicines Advertisement Board.
“Not one such ad on social media has the approval number. To those who have fallen for such ads, keep them as evidence. I have many lawyer friends who can help with the legal process. I advise everyone to be careful.”
Rafidah also took to Twitter yesterday to criticise an advertisement for a health drink product featuring celebrity Asmawi Ani – better known as Mawi – that claims to help reduce kidney problems, diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol.
She told him off saying that singers and actors, before becoming product ambassadors, should understand the guidelines on advertising health products.
“Hello Mawi, why do you have to deceive my chronic patients? This is wrong under the Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956.
“(You) don’t have to sell deceiving stories while playing on religious notions.” – The Vibes, May 8, 2022
