DOH, FDA’s queer standards

By Modesto P. Sa-onoy

There are sayings, “by their fruits you may know them” and “science does not tell a lie but scientists do.”

On several instances, the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration has declared that any drug and for that matter, vaccines, that have not been granted permission or emergency use authority (EUA) or compassionate use, are illegal. Anybody, particularly physicians who prescribe or use these drugs, face legal sanction, like cancellation of their license to practice.

DOH and FDA violated their sacrosanct rules when they kept silent at the case of the Presidential Security Group who were inoculated with Sinopharm vaccines that were admitted to have been smuggled and without any authorization for use. Since then these two agencies have started to lose their credibility and honesty.

Then comes the strict regulation against Ivermectin that had been in use in this country for decades, albeit for animals. But doctors, in their search for a means to help prevent more deaths from the virus started using Ivermectin without any adverse effect. It was effective and cheap but pharmaceuticals can no longer rake billions from it because the original maker, Merck had already lost its patent rights that had expired.

DOH and FDA however were furious, became overly strict, threatening legal action and cancellation of licenses of doctors found to be using Ivermectin. They could not prescribe because the drug has no blessings from the pretending gods in DOH and FDA with the WHO joining in proscribing Ivermectin.

DOH and FDA demanded clinical trials here. They refused to recognize the acceptance of Ivermectin in other parts of the world. When clamour for allowing Ivermectin to be allowed, DOH and FDA demanded these trials which could take months and cost millions. They are not content with the findings in other countries that for months are using this drug successfully and saving thousands of lives. They even declared falsely (without proof) that Ivermectin is poisonous.

DOH Francisco Duque is acting like a tyrannical duke and FDA Enrique Domingo is more knowledgeable than the experts in other countries, except that when it comes to vaccines that have not been tested in the Philippines, they bow to these foreigners. They must have several millions of reasons to have a queer standard – one for Filipinos and another for benefactors abroad. That, of course, is understandable, but not unsuspected.

On the other hand, the Department of Science and Technology believes there is no need to conduct clinical trials because this has been done abroad, but Domingo insists on their queer double standard, perhaps to buy time for some sinister reasons. If not, how can they explain their weird standards? These two are surely no weirdoes but brilliant men, otherwise, why are they in their present posts?

The queer standard that these two pretentious gods follow is clearly illustrated in the case of Sinopharm vaccine as compared to their standard demanded of Ivermectin. As we know the PSG was vaccinated with Sinovac, but despite public clamour for an explanation no prosecution was made – there was smuggling and unauthorized use of this vaccine.

Duque and Domingo lost their tongues otherwise they would have lost their highly profitable jobs. But we do not begrudge that. They will be accountable in due time under different circumstances.

The queerness of the standard of DOH and FDA is best illustrated by recent events. The President was vaccinated by a vaccine produced by Sinopharm. Duque administered the jab.

Criticism exploded in the country and this time these two gods could no longer lie. Domingo admitted that it “has yet to evaluate the Chinese vaccine that was used to inoculate President Rodrigo Duterte against COVID-19” and it has “yet to issue an emergency use authorization for Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine.”

He also admitted “it only granted compassionate special permit for 10,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine to be used by the Presidential Security Group. When you say compassionate special permit, it’s not an authorization given by the FDA. In this case, the head of the PSG hospital guarantees they studied the vaccine and they take full responsibility for it. Here at the FDA, we have yet to evaluate the vaccine.”

Continued on May 13.