Herbal Viagra: FDA Warns Against Hidden Risks

The Federal Drug Administration has long warned of the hidden dangers associated with taking products marketed as “dietary supplements” that promise to enhance sexual performance or increase sexual stimulation, a growing trend among men.

Former NBA star Lamar Odom was hospitalized Tuesday after he was found unresponsive at a Nevada brothel, and, according to Nye County officials, had taken 10 tabs of over-the-counter sexual performance enhancing "supplements" that he purchased at the Bunny Ranch. 

According to the brothel's spokesperson, Odom told employees he did cocaine before arriving Saturday. Odom has publicly struggled with addiction to drugs. In 2001, the recently drafted forward was suspended for violating the NBA's anti-drug policy for the second time in eight months.

Authorities took a blood sample from Odom early Wednesday to determine what was in his system. The toxicology results could take weeks, Sheriff's Detective Michael Eisenloffel said.

But claims that he may have taken herbal Viagra have nonetheless drawn attention to supplements that the FDA has warned about.  Herbal impotency pills are emerging as a major public health concern that officials haven’t figured out how to track, much less tame.

“All-natural” products with names like Lady Shangai, Blue Steel, Rhino V Max purport to be a safe herbal alternative to prescription erectile dysfunction(ED) drugs.

Herb Viagra FDA
FDA
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising consumers not to purchase or use Herb Viagra, a product promoted for sexual enhancement.

But since 2004, FDA lab tests have found that nearly 300 products sold as “herbal viagra” contained “potentially harmful, undeclared ingredients.”

“Even a cautious consumer can’t tell that these products are, in fact, tainted with undisclosed drug ingredients, because their labels do not list the potentially hazardous ingredients,” Dr. Daniel Dos Santos with the FDA’s Division of Dietary Supplement Programs said in a consumer alert release.

This year alone, the FDA sent consumer alerts on 25 products seized during an examination of international mail shipments that contained undisclosed active ingredients — specifically sildenafil.

Sildenafil is the active ingredient found in FDA-approved prescription drugs used to treat ED such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra.

"These products may interact in dangerous ways with drugs that a consumer is already taking," said FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research medical team leader Mark Hirsch, in a 2009 Consumer Health Information report. “For example, taking sildenafil in addition to certain prescription drugs containing nitrates may lower blood pressure to an unsafe level.”

This poses the greatest danger to people with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease who are often prescribed drugs that contain nitrates. Men with these conditions often suffer from ED and seek impotency pills.

"Those are factors that doctors consider when prescribing approved ED treatments,”
Hirsch said.

Budget cuts in an already fiscally constrained department limits the FDA’s ability to aggressively police these products. The agency issues alerts warning consumers about potentially dangerous products and works to stop the sale of illegal products and have them voluntarily recalled or destroyed.

Nonetheless, some products are still in the marketplace.

The FDA says consumers should always consult their health care professional before taking a new supplement.
 

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