Erectile dysfunction: Risk from herbal remedies

1st July 2011 - Unlicensed herbal remedies for erectile dysfunction, available over the internet, could present serious health risks according to recent test results.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) received advice from the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products in Belgium as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US on ‘Africa Black Ant’, ‘Rock Hard Weekend’, ‘Pandora’ and ‘The Best’.

The unlicensed products have been marketed over the internet as ‘herbal supplements’ but were found to contain the prescription only medicine (POM) sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra.

Sildenafil should only ever be used when prescribed by an appropriately qualified healthcare professional and taking it in unknown or uncontrolled quantities could be extremely dangerous and cause serious adverse reactions such as life-threatening high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes.

MHRA Head of Herbal Policy, Richard Woodfield said in a press statement: " In the UK, certain medicines are categorised as [prescription only] due to their potent nature, so they should only be used under the care and supervision of suitably qualified healthcare professionals. The unlawful sale of products posing as ‘herbal’ but containing [prescription only medicines] is a serious threat to public health and could be dangerous. Anyone with information about the sale or supply of products such as these should notify us immediately."

The products

Africa Black Ant comes in red and black packaging and is promoted as a natural dietary supplement or herbal Viagra for erectile dysfunction.

Rock Hard Weekend and Pandora capsules come in blister packs and bottles and are marketed as sexual enhancers for men and women.

The Best is a male sexual enhancer and comes in yellow and red packaging with single blister capsules. It is promoted as a herbal Viagra for erectile dysfunction.

Scheme for herbal remedies

Historically, with unlicensed herbal medicines, people have needed to be aware that standards could vary widely and sometimes be poor.

Woodfield says:"However, an increasing range of herbal medicines made to assured standards are now available on the UK market thanks to the Traditional Herbal Registration (THR) scheme."

Registered and licensed herbal medicines can be identified by the THR logo or the product licence (PL) number on the label.

The MHRA says the scheme has been designed so that the public will no longer have to guess at the safety and quality of herbal medicines.