TGA Finds Sex Supplements Contain Hidden Viagra, Cialis — SkimNews
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- Therapeutic Goods Administration testing has revealed that sexual enhancement supplements sold in Australian retail stores and online are adulterated with prescription medications including sildenafil (sold as Viagra) and tadalafil (sold as Cialis).
- Dr Ian Musgrave, a molecular pharmacologist at the University of Adelaide, says products are adulterated because "prescription drugs work" and adding them to herbal preparations creates a "readily marketable product" that can be illicitly sold as a natural remedy.
- The hidden prescription ingredients carry significant risks, as drugs like Viagra influence blood flow and can cause extreme low blood pressure and heart problems when combined with other medications such as chest pain treatments, according to Musgrave.
- The problem is not new — in 2007, Cialis was discovered in an Australian herbal supplement for men, prompting the TGA to order its withdrawal and warn of "serious health consequences, especially for patients with existing medical conditions such as heart problems, or persons at risk of stroke."
- Musgrave says the issue is growing worldwide due to the proliferation of an online illicit supplements market driven by influencers on social media, and that Border Force, while vigilant for unapproved medical products, cannot keep pace with the fluid supplement market.
- Musgrave warns that ensuring consumer safety from adulterated products would require a "significant expansion" in both monitoring and personnel.
- Consumers can reduce risk by buying from chemists and looking for an AUST L number indicating TGA registration, but the column's best advice is to see a doctor before taking any supplement claiming to be natural.
Why it matters: Australians buying "natural" sexual enhancement products may unknowingly ingest unprescribed Viagra or Cialis, which can cause dangerous blood pressure drops and cardiac events — particularly when combined with heart medications. The persistence of this problem since at least 2007, now amplified by online sales and social media influencers, shows current regulatory enforcement is failing to keep adulterated products off shelves.
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