The new approach was especially beneficial for Viagra, an erectile dysfunction (ED) drug, which is among the world’s most counterfeited drugs.
Why counterfeit ED drugs are dangerous
Besides the fact that men would be wasting their money on fake ED drugs, counterfeits can also be dangerous.
They can be manufactured in unsanitary environments and/or contain undeclared ingredients that can be very harmful, or even deadly, to men who unknowingly consume the hidden ingredients.
According to an article on phys.org, back in 2008, 150 men were hospitalized after taking fake ED drugs that contained glyburide, which is used to treat diabetes. The men all experienced severe hypoglycemia. Seven suffered brain damage and four died.
As one of the researchers, Philippe Lebel, said, the problems develop when men buy drugs outside pharmacies. “There is no information on the actual origin of these products, their storage conditions, their composition, their dosages, or their toxicity, for example,” said Lebel.
How the new method works
The researchers’ use special equipment to detect substances that are sometimes substituted for the active ingredients in Viagra.
Although the analyses was similar to the existing method, the new analysis only takes 10 minutes (the previous method took up to 50 minutes) and is able to identify previously unidentifiable compounds, even in small amounts.
How big is the problem of counterfeit ED drugs?
Although Asia and India tend to have the most counterfeit ED drugs, there are fakes being produced and sold all over the world.
But how big a deal is it? One Dutch study discovered that of 370 samples of Viagra that were seized, only 10 were real.
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