HSA removes over 3,000 online listings for illegal health products including injections, antibiotics

SINGAPORE – The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has removed more than 3,000 illegal health product listings from local e-commerce and social media platforms in a bid to clamp down on the illegal sale and supply of such products.

In what the HSA described in a Nov 27 statement as a “first-of-its-kind large-scale collaboration with online platform administrators”, a total of 3,336 illegal health product listings were removed. The authority also issued 1,471 warnings to sellers during the operation that took place from Sept 23 to Oct 23.

The eight platforms that participated in the operation are Amazon Singapore, Carousell, eBay Singapore, Facebook, Lazada, Qoo10, Shopee and TikTok.

“The joint operation to clamp down on the illegal sale and supply of health products sold online illustrates HSA’s commitment to protect consumers from products which are substandard or counterfeit. These products may be unsafe and carry a significant risk of harm,” said HSA, urging members of the public to report any illegal, fake or suspicious health products to them.

In September, a 32-year-old man was fined $266,500 after being convicted of possessing and supplying 126 types of cosmetic products that were found to be counterfeit – the largest fine ever imposed for selling counterfeit cosmetic products, said HSA.

He had intended to sell these counterfeit cosmetic products through multiple accounts he had created on Lazada.

Another case in August saw a 48-year-old woman fined $19,000 and jailed for 2 weeks for supplying unregistered health products during her home-based aesthetic services, as well as promoting her services on social media.

HSA seized 51 types of health products including dermal fillers and vials of lidocaine carbonate injection from the woman’s home.

In February, a 30-year-old woman was fined $18,000 for selling an unregistered skin cream known as Star Cream on several local e-commerce platforms.

HSA prosecuted the woman after investigating a “serious adverse event” reported in a four-month-old infant who was diagnosed with Cushing’s syndrome after the use of the cream, which his mother had purchased online. Cushing’s syndrome is a hormonal disorder that leads to excessive production of the stress hormone cortisol.

The cream was tested by HSA and found to contain clobetasol propionate, a potent steroid and ketoconazole, a medicine for fungal infections.