The Department of Health (DOH) has warned of the danger that may be caused by the use of intravenous (IV) glutathione that is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Although the skin will turn white, it can damage the kidney or kidney of a person.
“IV glutathione will whiten your skin and make you look really like Caucasian, but it can damage your kidneys and kill you,” said Health Secretary Ted Herbosa at the Kapihan forum this Wednesday.
The secretary said that IV glutathione is used in hospitals as a rescue medicine for chemotherapeutic complications in cancer.
“I’m telling you from the Department of Health. It is not safe. The FDA has not registered it for skin whitening. If there’s someone using it, it is illegal,” Herbosa reminded.
The FDA has repeatedly issued warnings to the public regarding the risk that injectable lightening agents such as glutathione, which is only approved for use with cisplatin chemotherapy, may pose.
The FDA is concerned that there are health and beauty salons, wellness spas, and beauty clinics that offer intravenous drips or infusions using skin-lightening agents, including glutathione, vitamin C, and other injections.
DOH warns whitening IV gluta is illegal and unsafe
“To date there are no published clinical trials that have evaluated the use of injectable glutathione for skin lightening. There are also no published guidelines for appropriate dosing regimens and duration of treatment. The FDA has not approved any injectable products for skin lightening,” according to the FDA.
In 2020, a 33-year-old woman was killed after allegedly receiving a glutathione injection at a spa in Sampaloc, Manila.
According to reports, some people use glutathione to whiten the skin. However, according to the FDA advisory, no injectable glutathione products for skin lightening have been approved yet.
Injectable glutathione is only approved as an additional treatment for chemotherapy to cure cancer.
According to the FDA, among the side effects of injectable glutathione are liver, kidney, and nervous system toxicity.
There is also a risk of transmission of HIV and hepatitis C and B if the procedure is not performed by a medical practitioner and the facility is non-sterile.
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