I WAS disturbed by the sudden death of a young friend and neighbor a week ago. She was only 19 with so much promise as she reaped crown after another in all the beauty and brain pageants she had joined. Topping her gorgeous looks was her witty personality that just melted the crowed every time she candidly answered random pageant questions.
No one ever expected her untimely demise as she was even preparing to win yet another crown as Miss Dapitan 2015 this month. It was too late when her doctor found out that the cause of her dehydration and hemorrhage was a badly damaged liver due to a health supplement sold online.
While the bereaved family are still in shock and are grieving, I think it is an eye opener of the defective system we have in place in terms of regulation, and access to drugs and medicines.
I mean no one should have easy access to any medicine or supplement strong enough to destroy a liver other than through prescription and control of a licensed doctor. Anything that are accessible online should be presumed safe for public consumption even if they take more than the prescribed dosage as indicated in its package just like any over the counter drugs that could not do any harm.
My friend was no less a victim of the sloppiness of government regulations. How many more loved ones do we have to lose to finally see that it’s government duty to strictly regulate food and drugs? Violators of BFAD rules should be held accountable with the full force of the law as with the case of my late friend.
What is even more dangerous lately is that food supplements use personal testimonies of celebrity customers to advertise their products while the consumers take it as science truths. Endorsements of products should only be limited to authorities of such fields and never from celebrities unless they are only domestic products. I mean I would not have minded if the products were just applied on skin surfaces and can be washed out after a simple rinse but for all else that need to be ingested; it should have to undergo clearance from the Bureau of Food and Drugs.
My heart bleeds with the grieving family. They did not have to undergo this. No one should have to undergo such. She was just 19. The world could have been hers for the taking.
She will dearly be missed.
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