Many diabetes patients in Ho Chi Minh City are whispering to each other about buying “Eastern medicine paired pills” for treatment. They are unaware that this type of medication has been banned in many countries and can cause patients to slip into comas or even die after a period of use.
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(Image: nld) |
At a pharmacy located at the corner of Trieu Quang Phuc and Hai Thuong Lan Ong streets in the Eastern medicine district of District 5, Ho Chi Minh City, when looking at a sample medicine bottle in a customer’s hand, the seller pulled out two small bottles from a drawer and priced them at 15,000 VND.
At a drugstore on Luong Nhu Hoc street, the transaction was even easier. When asked about “diabetes paired pills,” the young salesgirl immediately brought out a bag of medicine and cheerfully replied: “We have any amount you need, 10,000 VND for a pair, and more you buy, the cheaper it gets.” Seeing the customer eyeing the bottle suspiciously, the young girl reassured: “This Eastern medicine is imported from China; it’s very effective, just take 2 pills a day and your illness will be gone!”
Not only in Ho Chi Minh City, but in provinces like Dong Nai, Long An, and Tien Giang, the sale of “Eastern medicine paired pills” is widespread. In an Eastern medicine shop on Nguyen Hue street in My Tho city, after carefully asking who the customer was buying for and who referred them, the owner fetched the medicine and advised: “When taking this medicine, you should avoid sugar and fats.” When customers inquired about buying in bulk, she confirmed: “Thousands of boxes are available, but you need to order a day in advance.” Almost every Eastern medicine shop in Tien Giang sells this medicine; it’s as easy as buying candy.
Professor Mai The Trach, Vice President of the Endocrinology – Diabetes Association, explained that they call it “Eastern medicine paired pills” because the medicine is sold in pairs, consisting of two bottles, one containing glibenclamide and the other containing phenformin. The packaging is entirely in Chinese. Phenformin has been banned from circulation in many countries for a long time due to its association with numerous fatalities. Long-term use can lead to kidney failure and coma due to lactic acidosis.
Dr. Diep Thi Thanh Binh, Head of the Internal Medicine Department at Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, stated that the aforementioned poisoning occurs silently, without any outward symptoms, and when it escalates, it can be too late to respond. For patients with existing kidney failure, using phenformin can accelerate the decline. Dr. Binh has witnessed several cases of coma due to using “Eastern medicine paired pills.” No one has been able to tally the number of deaths caused by phenformin in Vietnam, as when a diabetes patient arrives in a coma at the emergency room, medical staff typically focus on treatment rather than investigating underlying causes. However, one thing is certain: the risk of death from phenformin is real, and the United States banned this drug in 1977.
Dr. Nguyen Duc An, Chief Inspector of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, acknowledged that there is a situation of buying and selling “Eastern medicine paired pills” for diabetes in the area and that this medication is very dangerous, but prevention is quite difficult. The drugs are smuggled in from the Chinese border, so effective control must start from there. In recent years, inspectors have caught several Eastern medicine shops selling phenformin, but afterwards, things return to normal due to a lack of coordination among various sectors. Furthermore, the medicine is so cheap that patients easily accept it: 10,000 VND for 2 bottles, which amounts to just 200 VND per day, only 1/30 of the cost of currently available diabetes medications.
