New Zealand bans herbal sex pills
Nov 16, 2004
Wellington - New Zealand health authorities have banned four herbal remedies which claim to boost male sexual performance because they could have too much get up and go and provoke fatal heart attacks.
Wellington - New Zealand health authorities have banned four herbal remedies which claim to boost male sexual performance because they could have too much get up and go and provoke fatal heart attacks.
The products, including pills called Boyjoy and Manup, contain sildenafil and tadalafil, the active substances used in Viagra and Cialis, the only registered prescription medicines approved to treat erectile dysfunction in New Zealand.
Director-General of Health Dr Karen Poutasi warned that the pills, imported from China and widely sold in adult sex shops and Chinese medicine stores, could pose a safety risk to men taking them without medical supervision.
She said sildenafil, used in Boyjoy, Platinum Plus capsules and Wei Ge Wang tablets, and tadalafil, used in Manup, were known to interfere with some heart medication and could be fatal.
Derek Fitzgerald, of the Ministry of Health’s medicines safety authority (Medsafe) which ordered these products taken off shelves, said it was not known how many people had used them but at least 30,000 packs of Platinum Plus alone had been distributed.
Poutasi said people using any of the products should immediately stop and seek medical advice if they have felt unwell while taking them.
Importers and distributors face possible prosecution for selling unapproved medicines.
dpa
The products, including pills called Boyjoy and Manup, contain sildenafil and tadalafil, the active substances used in Viagra and Cialis, the only registered prescription medicines approved to treat erectile dysfunction in New Zealand.
Director-General of Health Dr Karen Poutasi warned that the pills, imported from China and widely sold in adult sex shops and Chinese medicine stores, could pose a safety risk to men taking them without medical supervision.
She said sildenafil, used in Boyjoy, Platinum Plus capsules and Wei Ge Wang tablets, and tadalafil, used in Manup, were known to interfere with some heart medication and could be fatal.
Derek Fitzgerald, of the Ministry of Health’s medicines safety authority (Medsafe) which ordered these products taken off shelves, said it was not known how many people had used them but at least 30,000 packs of Platinum Plus alone had been distributed.
Poutasi said people using any of the products should immediately stop and seek medical advice if they have felt unwell while taking them.
Importers and distributors face possible prosecution for selling unapproved medicines.
dpa