{"id":15084,"date":"2016-08-11T20:39:33","date_gmt":"2014-08-12T03:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.accessrx.com\/blog\/?p=15084"},"modified":"2014-08-11T20:39:33","modified_gmt":"2014-08-12T03:39:33","slug":"feds-find-herbal-health-supplement-contains-sildenafil-m0810","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/current-health-news\/feds-find-herbal-health-supplement-contains-sildenafil-m0810\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds Find Herbal Health Supplement Contains Sildenafil"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nature<\/a>
Nature is not always as benign as it appears.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

People tend to think that because a product is natural, it can\u2019t be harmful.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re used to breaking off a piece of an aloe plant and rubbing the plant gel on a minor kitchen burn, it\u2019s easy to think that the world of botanicals is benign.<\/p>\n

But you don\u2019t have to think very hard to realize that just because something grows from the earth it is safe. Did you ever come home from camping with a bad case of poison ivy? Oleander, belladonna, hemlock, digitalis \u2026 the world has plenty of flora that can harm or kill.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why it\u2019s essential that if you want to take an herbal supplement, you do your homework first, learning what\u2019s in it, what it does, and what dosage is safe. Unfortunately, you sometimes run the risk of \u201cherbal\u201d or \u201cnatural\u201d supplements containing ingredients that are made in laboratories, and that can be dangerous. The FDA recently found one such product that had been sold in drug stores and, oddly, on the Sears.com website.<\/p>\n

Supplement With Funny Name, Serious Ingredient<\/strong><\/p>\n

A supplement called O.M.G. that purportedly helped with sexual health was recently found by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to contain sildenafil<\/a>. Sildenafil is the active ingredient in the prescription drug Viagra, which is used to treat erectile dysfunction. This product was sold without a prescription both online and in bricks and mortar retailers.<\/p>\n

Laboratory analysis by the FDA confirmed that O.M.G. contained sildenafil, and theFDA sent out a warning that this ingredient could cause serious problems in some cases. For one thing, sildenafil interacts with some prescription heart medications like nitroglycerine. When both are taken together, the result can be a dangerous drop in blood pressure. And if a man decided to take Viagra, and then attempt to boost sexual performance more by also taking the \u201cnatural\u201d O.M.G., he could find himself in the hospital in an overdose situation. Though Sears no longer sells it, the FDA can only do so much to make these products unavailable.<\/p>\n

Vimax: 100% Natural?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another product boasting of being \u201c100% Natural\u201d is Vimax, and the FDA announced this past January that the product contained tadalafil<\/a>, which is the active ingredient in the prescription erectile dysfunction drug Cialis. It, too was sold online and in retail stores without a prescription. Like Viagra, Cialis can interact with nitrates used for treating heart problems, causing blood pressure to drop dangerously. Mixing different erectile dysfunction drugs can also be very dangerous because although slightly different chemically, these popular prescription drugs work in very similar ways.<\/p>\n

In its announcements about Vimax and O.M.G., the FDA warns of \u201ca growing trend of dietary supplements or conventional foods with hidden drugs and chemicals.\u201d Often these products claim to enhance sexual performance, make body building more effective, or promote weight loss.<\/p>\n

The FDA and Dietary Supplements<\/strong><\/p>\n

Under current law, the FDA regulates dietary supplements under a different set of regulations than those that cover traditional foods and drugs. Supplement manufacturers and distributors are not allowed to market products that are mislabeled, misbranded, or adulterated. The manufacturers of supplements are responsible for evaluating the safety of their products, and for labeling them properly to meet regulations of the FDA and of the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA)<\/a> of 1994. It is the responsibility of the FDA to take action against dietary supplements that have been adulterated or misbranded once they are introduced to the market.<\/p>\n

\"The
The FDA tries to stay on top of \u201cnatural supplements\u201d that contain real drugs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The FDA, however, has finite manpower, while manufacturers of supplements ship massive quantities of their products every day. Many make it onto store shelves or websites before the FDA even knows of their existence, let alone has a chance to test them.<\/p>\n

Other Incidents of Pharmaceuticals in Supplements<\/strong><\/p>\n

O.M.G. and Vimax are just two of the many supplements that have been found to contain harmful ingredients. For example, in February of this year, a weight loss pill called Thinogenics was found to contain sibutramine<\/a>, the generic ingredient in the prescription weight loss drug Meridia, which was removed from the market in 2010. An arthritis \u201csupplement\u201d called Arth-Q was found to contain ibuprofen<\/a> (which was not disclosed on the label). It, too was labeled \u201c100% natural.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another weight loss supplement called OxyElitePro was recalled from the market for containing aegeline, which the FDA says \u201clacks a history of use or other evidence of safety.\u201d Twenty-nine cases of liver failure were linked with the drug, and one woman died<\/a> after taking it.<\/p>\n

Two other supposedly \u201call natural\u201d weight loss supplements, Infinity (sold online as super bee pollen pills) and Lite Fit USA were withdrawn from the market earlier this year after the FDA found that they too contained sibutramine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some people may read about cases like these and think they\u2019ve found an easy way to obtain prescription drugs without the hassle of going to a doctor and pharmacy. But the risks are simply too great. There is no evidence that pharmaceutical ingredients in supplements are standardized in any way, and no information is provided on how much is contained in these supplements, making an overdose too real a possibility.<\/p>\n

Moreover, when you take supposedly natural supplements that contain pharmaceutical products, you have no way of knowing whether the ingredients in the product will interact with other medications you take. The FDA cracks down on manufacturers of these products because they pose a real danger to consumers. In particular, when you buy such products online it\u2019s hard to tell where they came from, and there are many countries around the world that ship out large quantities of counterfeit drugs and \u201call natural supplements\u201d with the sole objective of separating people from their money, regardless of dangers.<\/p>\n

At eDrugstore.com<\/a>, we have been providing name brand prescription medications like Viagra for over 15 years. These drugs are shipped with lot number information consumers can use to verify that they have the actual product and not a counterfeit product. Working with US-licensed pharmacists, eDrugstore.com<\/a> ships products quickly and discreetly, using trusted shipping companies like FedEx. Furthermore, eDrugstore.com<\/a> is HIPAA-compliant and committed to the highest standards of online ordering security and customer privacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People tend to think that because a product is natural, it can\u2019t be harmful. If you\u2019re used to breaking off a piece of an aloe plant and rubbing the plant gel on a minor kitchen burn, it\u2019s easy to think that the world of botanicals is benign. But you don\u2019t have to think very hard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15086,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[458,127,518,184],"class_list":["post-15084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-health-news","tag-fda","tag-herbal-supplements","tag-sildenafil","tag-viagra"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t