PRC urged to suspend or revoke 2 doctors’ licenses

Two doctors are being petitioned to be revoked of PRC license over alleged multi-level marketing scheme. File photo.

[Updated July 17, 2025, 9:52 p.m.]

MANILA, Philippines — Human rights lawyer Erin Tañada on Thursday filed a complaint asking the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to suspend or completely revoke the medical licenses of two doctors.

This was in connection with a multi-level marketing scheme, in which local pharmaceutical company Bell-Kenz Pharma Inc. allegedly recruited doctors to prescribe its medicines to patients in exchange for commissions and luxury items.

“Doctors are sworn to protect life, not profit from patients by turning them into mere ‘sales targets,’” Tañada stressed in a statement on Thursday.

READ: Drug firm in Senate probe denies ‘pyramiding’ accusations

“The poor are doubly victimized: first by the costlier branded medicines pushed by the scheme, and second by the betrayal of doctors who should have safeguarded their health,” he added.

Tañada said the two doctors may have violated Republic Act 6675 or the Generics Act; RA 10918 or the Philippine Pharmacy Act; RA 11223 or the Universal Health Care Act; and RA 11765 or the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act.

The human rights lawyer identified the doctors as Luis Raymond Go and Viannely Berwyn Flores.

In a statement to INQUIRER.net later on Thursday, Go and Flores’ legal counsel Atty. Pedro Tanchuling said, “We have reasonable grounds to believe that it (the complaint) serves no purpose but to malign the good reputation of our clients to their detriment.”

The legal counsel further claimed that, apart from Tañada’s complaint, the two doctors “had never been charged with any wrongdoing” by the PRC or any medical society.

Tanchuling said Go and Flores have yet to formally receive the complaint itself, adding that PRC rules barred them from making public statements about the case.

“Our clients have been strictly advised not to speak publicly until the case is resolved, and we expect the same restraint from Mr. Tanada to ensure that the Professional Regulatory Commission can conduct its review without external interference,” he explained.

“We will vigorously pursue all available legal remedies against any individual or entity that seeks to defame, intimidate, or otherwise damage our clients’ good names. Attempts to malign our clients will be met with decisive legal action,” Tanchuling added.

Tañada also called on the PRC to investigate other doctors affiliated with Bell-Kenz.

“Ultimately, this is about restoring integrity to our healthcare system and ensuring that no patient is ever treated as a business opportunity again,” he explained.

Bell-Kenz previously denied the allegations of a “pyramiding scheme” in April 2024, saying the claims were “misinformed and unfounded.”

The company further committed to face the accusations “in the right fora.” /mr