2023-08-11 20:18:10
Specialists have warned against videos of doctors and pharmacists broadcasted through social media applications, especially “Tik Tok”, during which they promote medical and pharmaceutical products and treatment programs for various diseases, without a medical license to practice the profession, and without obtaining specialized scientific certificates.
They emphasized that many of the followers of these accounts go to hospitals for treatment for the damage they have suffered, because they followed the advice of these non-professionals.
And they demanded the concerned authorities to monitor these accounts, which have turned into what resemble clinics, and include millions of followers, as well as monitor sellers of medical products through social media and carry exaggerated and misleading medical claims, especially those related to weight loss, or treatment of chronic diseases.
A consultant dermatologist, assistant professor at the Mohammed bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dr. Anwar Al-Hammadi, warned against relying on social media platforms to obtain medical information or use therapeutic products, stressing that many accounts on social media platforms, their primary goal is financial profit, Whether through the sale of medical products or advertisements, this phenomenon appears on the “Tik Tok” platform more than others.
He pointed out that many non-professionals are at the forefront of social media platforms, and it has been proven that they are either the owners of medical products that they promote, or beauticians who offer products that carry misleading medical claims, which may pose a serious threat to the health of members of society.
He stated that celebrities usually display their products without showing that they do not benefit people with chronic diseases or pregnant women, or others who may be allergic to one of the components of the product, so they end up referring to hospitals for treatment for damages.
He added, “At a time when we must be wary of information and products that are promoted through social media, there are some licensed specialists who provide meaningful and useful content,” indicating that they can be relied upon to obtain information, but not in diagnosis and treatment, because diseases require a clinical examination. .
Dr. Saif Darwish, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Emirates Public Health Association, said that many people develop diseases and health problems as a result of following the advice of non-specialists on social media platforms, as they are provided for commercial purposes and not for the benefit of society.
He stated that there is a difference between those who provide scientific content for awareness, and those who promote different prescriptions and treatments, calling for the boycott of anyone who promotes any medicine or medical product immediately, especially if he is not a specialist, because these products may pose a great risk, and they should not be taken without advice. medical.
He called on the regulatory authorities to prosecute the owners of these accounts and punish them legally, to control these practices, and to oblige each specialist to speak in his specialty only, without addressing other specializations to attract followers or make a financial profit.
For his part, legal advisor Haitham Samir Nassar said that promoters of information and medical advice on social media without a license from the Ministry of Health and Community Protection are committing crimes against patients who are looking for any hope of recovery, or even non-patients who are trying recipes such as mixing certain herbs to improve Public health, such as colon washing, and other fantasies aimed at gaining more followers on social media platforms.
Nassar added that laws and government decisions criminalize, in many places, these actions that pose a real threat to human health, pointing out that Article 25 of Federal Law No. 5 of 2019 regarding the organization of the practice of human medicine confirms the penalty of imprisonment and a fine of no less than 200 dirhams. One thousand dirhams and not exceeding two million dirhams, or one of these two penalties, against every person who practices the profession without obtaining a license and does not meet the conditions that give him the right to obtain it, as well as every person who is not licensed to practice the profession who uses flyers, billboards, banners, or any other Another means of publication, if that would lead the public to believe that it has the right to practice the profession.
He explained that the same law prohibits selling medicines or samples thereof to patients, or or promoting some of them.
Nassar stated that Article 19 of the law does not allow a doctor to advertise himself, or in any way of publication or publicity, except with a specific exception specified by the executive regulations of the law. The regulations issued by the Council of Ministers for this law stipulated the exception, which is the permission for the doctor to announce in newspapers or other means of announcing the location of his clinic, whether when starting work in it or when changing it, or if he travels or returns from a leave of more than a month.
Nassar referred to Article 49 of Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021 regarding combating rumors and cybercrime, which confirms the punishment of imprisonment and a fine, or one of these two penalties, against anyone who establishes, manages or supervises a website, or publishes information on the information network, or By any means of information technology, to promote or sell medical products that are not licensed in the country or that imitate licensed medical products.
He stressed that some doctors provide oral prescriptions to patients on social media, thinking that the license granted to them to practice the profession gives them this right, which is a misconception, as the permit issued to practice the profession is used for the purpose for which it is granted only, pointing to the decision of the Minister of Health. And Community Protection No. 93 of 2023 regarding medical prescription by oral order, which limited the oral medical prescription to treating the patient in the intensive care unit, the emergency unit, the operating room, or any other department in the hospital, provided that the patient’s condition is critical and requires urgent intervention, in order to expedite the treatment. Save the patient’s life.
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