FACT CHECK: Ad for diabetes ‘cure’ uses fake PGH Facebook page, FDA website

Claim: The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) posted an ad for Glufarelin, a product that claims to cure diabetes, along with a link to the website of the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook post came from the page named “PGH-Philippin General Hospital News.” As of writing, the post has over 2,600 reactions and 1,300 comments. Most of the comments inquired about the price of the product, with the page replying with a link to a supposed FDA website and instructing interested customers to provide their phone numbers.

The Facebook page also used a logo of the  University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) and a photo of doctors posing in front of the building. 

Fake URL: The ad and the Facebook page that posted it are not affiliated with either the PGH nor FDA.

The link attached to the ad is not an official website of the FDA. Upon checking, Rappler found that the link redirects to a website with the uniform resource locator (URL) “fda-ph.net.” However, the URL of the official FDA website is fda.gov.ph.

Fake UP-PGH page: Despite having the name “PGH-Philippin General Hospital News,” the Facebook page is fake and is only using the name of UP-PGH to look legitimate. The official Facebook page of UP-PGH is named University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital and has 133,00 likes and 140,000 followers.

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The fake page and website may make users vulnerable to a phishing scam, where fraudsters gather sensitive information from users by posing as legitimate and trustworthy entities. (READ: Phishing 101: How to spot and avoid phishing)

Past claims debunked: Rappler has fact-checked ads using the UP-PGH name and logo to promote Glufarelin, which were posted even before the product was officially registered in the FDA’s list of food products on October 23, 2023:

• FACT CHECK: Doc Willie Ong’s name, videos used in fake ads for Glufarelin (July 21, 2023)
• FACT CHECK: Fake quote from diabetes expert used to promote Glufarelin (July 11, 2023)
• FACT CHECK: Glufarelin not endorsed by PGH, US doctor as diabetes cure (May 12, 2023)
• FACT CHECK: Neither PGH nor US expert endorses Glufarelin as diabetes cure (April 26, 2023)
• FACT CHECK: Quote cards about diabetes used to promote Glufarelin fabricated (April 6, 2023)
• FACT CHECK: NIH, Leachon do not endorse Glufarelin as diabetes cure (March 27, 2023)

 – Lorenz Pasion/Rappler.com

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. You may also report dubious claims to the #FactsFirstPH tipline by messaging Rappler on Facebook or Newsbreak via Twitter direct message. You may also report through our Viber fact check chatbot. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.