At October 10th 2018, popular shopping mall Hmong Village was raided by FDA and the police as multiple vendors were selling misbranded medications that contain mercury or non-prescription drugs to customers. The investigation has been going for many months as multiple reports of illness connected to the medications and that Wednesday happened to be the day where the vendors’ money-making medicine had been confiscated. Luckily no one at Hmong Village wasn’t arrested, but most of them were given a citation.

I asked Hmong North High students how they felt about the situation and Evelyn Moua, a Junior, stated: “I didn’t realize they got caught since they’ve been selling those medication for months.” and another student Elijah Lawbeerjour, when he was asked, he laughed and said: “I knew it!” Other students that I’ve asked were oblivious about the misbranded medication and didn’t even know that Hmong Village even sold such dangerous medication as they shop in there numerous times.

Another person, that wished to be anonymous, I asked wasn’t a North Student, but someone knowing the situation too well as their grandparents buy and uses those medications. They stated: “I try telling them those medicine can harm them, but they won’t listen to me and say those medications really help them, when it can hurt badly.”

As a Hmong person, I find this situation rather sad as we Hmong people shouldn’t be selling misbranded medication that could potentially harm someone or even killed them if they’re allergic to a certain ingredient in that product and the fact it’s a second time that the FDA found out Hmong people have been selling misbranded medications, I truly don’t understand why we do this as a community or as an ethnic group in general. We should be people known for our great values, not second rate drug-dealers.