An Act Regulating the Labeling, Sale, and Advertising of Patent and Proprietary Medicines, Fraudulent Therapeutic Appliances and Devices, and for the Protection of the People of the Philippine Islands Against the Exploitation of Such Articles

February 27, 1914

ACT NO. 2342

AN ACT REGULATING THE LABELING, SALE, AND ADVERTISING OF PATENT AND PROPRIETARY MEDICINES, FRAUDULENT THERAPEUTIC APPLIANCES AND DEVICES, AND FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AGAINST THE EXPLOITATION OF SUCH ARTICLES

SECTION 1. Every preparation, whether of a simple substance or of compounded substances, for the prevention, alleviation, or cure of human ailments, whether issued in or for retail sale, shall be accompanied by the formula of preparation plainly and legibly expressed upon the bottle, label, or package immediately containing the preparation, in such wise that it shall reach the purchaser at each and every purchase. The formula shall be accurately stated, qualitatively and quantitatively in the language, descriptions and abbreviations used in the United States Pharmacopoeia or other accepted pharmacopoeias or formularies. If any non-official drug or substance be used in the preparation, it shall be plainly described under its ordinary name or customary chemical term, and not by any fancy or proprietary name. DETACa

The provisions of this section shall not apply to prescriptions representing the private formulas of legally qualified physicians practicing in the Philippine Islands.

SECTION 2. No preparation, whether of a simple substance or of compounded substances, or any fraudulent therapeutic appliance or device for the prevention alleviation, or cure of human ailments shall be accompanied by any advertisement, announcement, persuasion, recommendation, testimonial, reference, certificate of merit, declaration of merit or efficacy, mark of distinction, or picture, symbol, or emblem signifying or suggesting any of these, either upon or in the article itself, or upon the bottle, box, container, cork, capsule, label, or attachment, or upon the invoice, bill, advice, notification, or otherwise by any device or method which is false, fraudulent, exaggerated or misleading in any way.

SECTION 3. No advertisement or announcement of any proprietary, patent or secret cure or any fraudulent therapeutic appliance or device shall be published or circulated in any newspaper, journal, serial, book, pamphlet, handbill, poster, wall plate, or by painting, impressing, embossing, or otherwise, within the jurisdiction of the Government of the Philippine Islands which is false, fraudulent, misleading, or exaggerated in any way, and every such advertisement or announcement shall be accompanied with the formula as provided in section one of this Act.

SECTION 4. The Director of Health, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, shall make uniform rules and regulations for carrying out the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 5. It shall be the duty of the Attorney-General or any fiscal to whom the Director of Health shall report any violation of this Act to cause appropriate proceedings to be commenced and prosecuted in the proper courts of the Philippine Islands, without delay, for the enforcement of the penalties as in such case herein provided.

SECTION 6. Any person, corporation, or company violating any provisions of this Act, or any regulation made in accordance therewith, shall be punished by a fine of not to exceed two hundred pesos, or six months' imprisonment, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court, for each offense. aDSIHc

SECTION 7. All Acts and ordinances and parts thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed.

SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect July first, nineteen hundred and fourteen.

ENACTED, February 27, 1914.