Company fined over unapproved medicine ads
Published on: Tuesday, September 19, 2023
By: Cynthia D Baga
The offence under Section 4B of the Medicine (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956 and punishable under Section 5 of the same Act which provides for a fine of up to RM3,000 or a year’s jail, or both, upon conviction.
Kota Kinabalu: A company was fined a total of RM7,500 for four counts of publishing advertisements not approved by the Medicine Advertisements Board.
VC Future Sdn Bhd pleaded guilty to all the charges, Monday.
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On the first count, the company was fined RM1,500 by Sessions Court Judge Azreena Aziz, for publishing an advertisement of a medicine dated on Oct 16, 2022 in a newspaper without approval from the Medicine Advertisements Board.
The charge stated that the advertisement had lead to the use of that description as a medicine, an appliance or a remedy for the purpose of prevention or treatment of the diseases and conditions of human beings.
The offence under Section 4B of the Medicine (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956 and punishable under Section 5 of the same Act which provides for a fine of up to RM3,000 or a year’s jail, or both, upon conviction.
On the second, third and fourth counts, the company was fined RM1,000, RM2,000 and RM3,000, respectively, by Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus.
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The charges stated that the company had published the same advertisement about the medicine in the same newspaper dated on Sept 11, Sept 26 and Oct 6, 2022.
During mitigation, the company director asked for leniency as it was the company’s first offence and promised not to repeat the offence.
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However, Pharmacy Prosecuting Officer Abu Suffian urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence.
He informed the court that the company had applied for the permit but the content of the advertisement was not the same with what was published in the newspaper.
Abu added that the advertisement would influence readers that the medicine can be used for treatment.
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