By Ma. Teresa Montemayor
MANILA – The Philippine Orthopedic Association (POA) on Thursday condemned social media posts featuring orthopedic doctors “scamming the public” to sell and promote medical products.
In a statement, the POA said such acts are illegal as they misrepresent legitimate health institutions.
“In our professional field, we advocate for the ethical utilization of new technologies to promote human health and cure diseases – not to deceive, harm, or disseminate information regarding purportedly effective treatments,” the group said.
“Similarly, we believe that AI (artificial intelligence)-generated social media should be used as a beneficial tool to help people rather than to exploit and misinform the public.”
The public is advised to be vigilant and encouraged to report any fraudulent act involving any professional doctors, particularly orthopedic surgeons being used “to influence and misguide the public to promote medical products through fake and deceiving social media advertisements.”
Uncertified medical products marketed over social media may contain harmful materials or ingredients that may aggravate users’ health conditions, the POA said.
“Hence, we appeal to you to NOT patronize those products. To help you verify the legitimacy of any fake orthopedic-related social media promotions, you may email us at poaagainstscammers@gmail.com,” it added. (PNA)
