{"id":1829,"date":"2016-07-22T17:28:53","date_gmt":"2014-07-22T17:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.viamedic.com\/blog\/?p=1829"},"modified":"2018-11-13T15:42:43","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T15:42:43","slug":"is-it-possible-to-spot-fake-viagra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/erectile-dysfunction\/viagra\/is-it-possible-to-spot-fake-viagra\/","title":{"rendered":"Is It Possible to Spot Fake Viagra?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You would be amazed at how closely counterfeit drugs (including fake Viagra) resemble the real products. In fact, even professionals who regularly seize fake drugs have a hard time telling fakes from genuine products without advanced chemical testing to prove what’s really inside, typically fillers and other inert ingredients.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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An eye-opening study presented at the 2012 World Meeting on Sexual Medicine found that more than 75 percent of the Viagra ordered from 22 online sites was counterfeit.<\/p>\n

The study, authored by San Diego-based medical doctor Irwin Goldstein, was conducted in cooperation with a team of global security personnel from Pfizer, the company that developed and brought Viagra to the market in the late 1990s. Although Pfizer\u2019s patent for Viagra has expired in some international markets, the company still holds its Viagra patent in the United States.<\/p>\n

How to Protect Yourself<\/h3>\n

In the face of this widespread counterfeiting of Viagra and other erectile dysfunction medications, what steps can you and other informed consumers take to avoid paying for drugs that are not only fake but in many cases are also dangerous?<\/p>\n

Your chances of identifying counterfeit Viagra on the basis of appearance alone are very slim indeed. So sophisticated are most drug counterfeiters that they are able to duplicate pill appearance and packaging so closely that even pharmaceutical experts usually must turn to chemical analysis to prove definitively that these drugs are fake.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Take a Chance<\/h3>\n

Although the Pfizer-sponsored study shed some light on the pervasiveness of counterfeit drugs, specifically fake Viagra, its small scale may tempt some would-be online buyers of ED drugs to think that it won\u2019t happen to them.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re among those who think you\u2019re savvy enough to avoid falling victim to counterfeit drugs, here\u2019s another sobering statistic to ponder. Operation Pangea VII, an international investigation into the online sale of counterfeit drugs, resulted in the seizure of $36 million worth of potentially dangerous medications.<\/p>\n

Coordinated by Interpol, Pangea VII\u2019s task force included law enforcement, customs, and regulatory authorities from 111 countries. Participating in the operation was the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.<\/p>\n

ED Drugs Widely Faked<\/h3>\n

Although the counterfeit drugs seized in the operation were not limited to erectile dysfunction drugs, these were among the most widely counterfeited medications uncovered in Pangea VII.<\/p>\n

According to Interpol, this global operation against counterfeit drugs resulted in the shutdown of 10,600 websites and the removal from social media platforms of 19,000 advertisements for these illegally marketed drugs.<\/p>\n

Hazardous to Your Health?<\/h3>\n

Getting ripped off is not the only risk you run when you end up buying counterfeit Viagra or other fake medications. Paying good money for a drug that doesn\u2019t work is really the least of your worries.<\/p>\n

According to a September 2013 article on Forbes.com, scientific testing on some of the counterfeit Viagra seized by authorities has found that the fake pills contain a variety of potentially dangerous substances. Among the ersatz ingredients are blue printer ink, used as a dye to duplicate Viagra\u2019s bright blue color; drywall and plaster; amphetamine; and the antibiotic metronidazole.<\/p>\n

In some cases, the illegally manufactured Viagra did contain sildenafil citrate, which is actually Viagra\u2019s active ingredient. However, most often the amount of active ingredient was too little to be effective. Worse yet, a few of the pills seized had dangerously high levels of sildenafil, so much that taking one of them could trigger a heart attack, according to Forbes.com.<\/p>\n

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Scam artists are remarkably good at making fake Viagra look just like real Viagra, down to the packaging.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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What Can You Do?<\/h3>\n

Given the unlikelihood of detecting fake Viagra on appearances alone, what other steps can you take to avoid falling victim to drug counterfeiters, particularly when ordering drugs online? Here are some suggestions from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy that were contained in NABP\u2019s Internet Drug Outlet Identification Program, released in July 2013.<\/p>\n