Materia Medica Malaysiana

Expired Chinese Traditional Medicines Being Sold

JOHOR BARU, Thurs. - Negligence and the failure of retailers to keep an inventory of their stocks have led to expired traditional medicines being sold in Chinese medical halls.

Most of the medicines are imported from China.

According to the Federation of Chinese Physicians and Medicine Dealers' Associations of Malaysia, most of the over 5,000 Chinese medical halls in the country do not keep an inventory of their traditional medicines.

Its secretary, Thong Choong Khat, said such medicines had a shelf life ranging from two to three years like the Western medicines registered with the Health Ministry.

"However, most of the retailers do not keep an inventory of their stocks with regards to the manufacturing, purchase and expiry dates like what their counterparts in pharmacies are doing.

"As a result, it is common for them to accumulate stocks of traditional medicines after some time and unknowingly sell them to their customers even after the expiry date.

"This may not be a problem in cities as most consumers usually check the date. The problem occurs in rural areas as most villagers do not know about expiry dates."

Thong said retailers selling expired medicines were projecting a bad image.

This was especially so if the products were manufactured by factories which did not adhere to good manufacturing practices, he added.

He urged all the retailers to keep an inventory of their stocks so that they could easily monitor the shelf life of their medicines.

He also wanted the local agents of traditional medicines to liaise with the retailers on removing medicines from the shelf several months before the expiry date.

He said the public should exercise extra caution when buying traditional medicines.

There were also cases of fake traditional medicines with fake registration numbers, he said.

"To check the authenticity of a medicine and whether it has been registered with the ministry, look at the website of the National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau.

"If the name cannot be found on the website, it is either because the medicines have yet to be registered with the ministry or they are fake products," he added.

The website address is www.bpfk. gov.my.