Beware of Fake Drugs for Erectile Dysfunction
The International Journal of Clinical Practice has published research findings that warn against purchasing potentially fake drugs for erectile problems online. According to an international review of the counterfeit drug industry, men who buy phoney drugs for erectile dysfunction (ED) face significant risk from hazardous contents. By bypassing regular healthcare visits, other issues like diabetes and high blood pressure also go undiagnosed.
Seizure of counterfeit drugs continues to rise and the illegal industry is expected to grow to $75 billion in 2010, which represents a 92 percent increase since 2005. An estimated 2.3 million ED drugs are sold monthly without a prescription and 44 percent of online Viagra purchases are thought to be fake. Some of the potentially harmful ingredients contained in phoney pills include amphetamine, commercial paint, bulk lactose, metronidazole and even printer ink used for coloring.
"The presence of unknown pharmaceutically active ingredients and/or impurities may lead to undesirable and serious adverse events, even death" warns journal editor and cardiologist Graham Jackson. "We discovered that 150 patients had been admitted to hospitals in Singapore after taking counterfeit tadalfil and herbal preparations that claimed to cure ED. Seven were comatose, as the drugs contained a powerful drug used to treat diabetes, and four subsequently died."
ED drugs are the most commonly counterfeited medicine seized in the European Union, as they come at a high cost and some men are uncomfortable asking their healthcare practitioners for prescriptions. As many as 2.5 million men in the EU may be using counterfeit Viagra.
"In some cases producing counterfeit medicine can be ten times as profitable per kilogram as heroin, yet in the UK someone can face greater legal sanctions if they produce a counterfeit T-shirt,” says Jackson. “What is clear is that we need much greater public awareness of the risks of buying counterfeit drugs, as lives are at risk. It is essential that healthcare clinicians get that message across."
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Comments
Diabetes and ED
These counterfeit ED drugs are becoming a major problem. Men with diabetes sometimes develop erectile dysfunction 10 to 15 years earlier than men without diabetes. These men (and all men) in particular need to always consult with their physician before taking any drugs...much less fake ones.
Many of these drugs are coming from foreign countries and rumors are spreading about some of them funding terrorist groups. There needs to be a worldwide clamp down on the manufacture and sales of these counterfeit "medicines".