Doctors reiterate warning vs. 'gluta drips' for skin whitening

Two doctors warned over the weekend about the hazards of using intravenous (IV) glutathione which has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"Gluta drips," particularly those marketed for skin whitening and rejuvenation, have seen a rise in popularity in the Philippines.

Dermatologist Erin Tababa-Santos, also known online as "The Nerdy Derma," warned the public against the use of "gluta drips" for skin whitening.

"[The] claims written regarding gluta IV are questionable!!!!" Tababa-Santos wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"WARNING: Walang reliable + consistent data na nagsasabing nakakaputi ang glutathione. Hindi alam ang long term safety ng IV use nito (There is no reliable + consistent data that say glutathione is a whitening product. The long term safety of its IV use is unknown)," she added.

This, after Mariel Rodriguez-Padilla shared photos of her receiving the said treatment inside the office of her husband, Senator Robinhood Padilla.

The social media post has now been deleted after it earned the ire of netizens.

Meanwhile, another physician, Harold Chiu said that what Rodriguez-Padilla did was "inviting harm."

"Apart from using it for the wrong reasons and indications, this is inviting harm," Chiu said.

"The Senate office is not a suitable place. Definitely not adequately prepared in case a severe anaphylaxis and drug reaction occurs," he added.

On Sunday, the Department of Health (DOH) said that injectable glutathione is sometimes paired with intravenous Vitamin C as it warned that Vitamin C injection "may form kidney stones if the urine is acidic."

"Large doses of Vitamin C have resulted in hemodialysis in patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency," DOH Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo noted.

The Health department reiterated that it does not support the use of glutathione for skin whitening.

Citing the FDA, the DOH maintained that there are no published clinical trials that have evaluated the use of injectable glutathione for skin lightening.

DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, meanwhile, shared on his Facebook page the 2020 warning of the Philippine Dermatological Society (PDS) against the unapproved use of IV glutathione administered for skin lightening.

The PDS stressed that IV glutathione is a drug and not merely a nutritional supplement and very high doses is "unsafe and may result to serious consequences to the users."

"The risk of harmful side effects increases when non-physicians inject glutathione," it added.

"The public is strongly warned to refrain from using glutathione products that are not Philippines FDA-approved and used outside the doses approved by FDA."