A state-run hospital warned the public about a Facebook page using its name to supposedly endorse products claiming to treat diabetes.
The University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) shared screengrabs taken from the page of “Philippine General Hospital News” which featured posts with website links and manipulated quote cards.
One of its screengrabs showed a fake quote card naming American physician-nutrition researcher Neal Barnard as an “ex-IATF adviser.”
IATF refers to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases or IATF-EID, the government’s pandemic task force.
It has never appointed the American physician as an adviser.
UP-PGH also shared that the Facebook page, which labels itself as an “advertising agency,” has website links leading people to sites promoting a product claiming to be “capable of inhibiting the root cause of diabetes.”
The state-run hospital likewise warned the public that its name was being used on a webpage that features Barnard’s image and phrases such as “treatment for diabetes from stem cells.”
“Babala sa publiko: Ang Philippine General Hospital News ay HINDI authorized o legitimate na Facebook page na galing sa UP-PGH,” the UP-PGH said in a Facebook post on April 20.
“Hindi po nag-e-endorso ng kahit anumang produkto ang PGH. Huwag pong maniwala rito,” it added.
The “Philippine General Hospital News” page has 536 likes and 552 followers.
It also falsely claims that it is the “Philippine General Hospital News official website.”
The actual website of the UP-PGH carries the following URL: https://www.pgh.gov.ph/
Their website has a page for news or reports.
Meanwhile, a cursory check of the “Philippine General Hospital News” page reveals that the posts flagged by the UP-PGH are no longer available.
However, the page continues to mislead the public by associating itself with the state-run hospital.
UP-PGH’s official Facebook page bears the following URL: https://www.facebook.com/philippinegeneralhospitalofficial
