‘Viagra 007’ Dietary Supplement For Erectile Dysfunction Contains The Active Drug In Viagra

For anyone thinking that the FDA is not properly regulating dietary supplements, I encourage you to check the list of tainted dietary supplements on the FDA Medication Health Fraud site. Here, the agency compiles a subset of their actions against companies selling herbal and other dietary supplements found to contain prescription drugs, or their close chemical relatives. Unlike recent attempts by workout and weight loss supplement companies to skirt U.S. laws by spiking products with marginally legal chemicals, such as BMPEA, this list contains the most egregious list of makers who aren’t even trying to comply with regulatory guidelines.

Erectile dysfunction supplements often represent the most brazen of the brazen, with thinly-veiled product names such as Dick’s Hard Up found to contain prescription phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitors. These undeclared prescription drugs pose significant health risks for users who might be taking other drugs, such as nitrate vasodilator drugs.

But this one was just screaming for FDA’s attention: Viagra 007. The manufacturer, Guangzhou Way Health Products Limited still lists the product and its description as a safe alternative to the prescription drug, sildenafil (Viagra; Pfizer).

Viagra, the most popular and widely used prescription medications, is often not an option for men with certain cardiovascular problems, as well as shunned by many who want to avoid unwanted side effects.

Viagra 007 is Viagra alternative on the market. It contains a proprietary formula designed to improve the quality of men’s erections. It is a proprietary formulated pills consisting of proven high expansion vasodilators that can promote healthy erectile function.

But, lo and behold, the FDA found mail order shipments of Viagra 007 to contain actual sildenafil, although the dose was not identified. In fact, two clicks gets me to contact information for the company that offers herbal products alongside, “Finished ED pharmaceuticals in various packing – Raw material of Viagra,Clias[sic],Levitra.”

Unlike the case with U.S. manufacturers, the agency has little recourse other than to issue alerts and urge healthcare professionals and patients to report any adverse reactions to the MedWatch reporting system online or by fax.

Attempts to contact the manufacturer for comment were met by a message to try again later in both English and Mandarin, even when outside of business hours. But one might suspect that a claim could be made that this wasn’t a case of economically-motivated adulteration but, perhaps, that their pharmaceutical product somehow got mixed up with their herbal product.

Regardless, advertising a supplement as an alternative to a prescription drug and then putting that very same drug in the supplement is the peak of irresponsibility.

For more health and pharmaceutical news and commentary, follow me on Twitter @DavidKroll, or here at Forbes.com.

Source: Forbes