What Would You Swallow for an Erection?

Few things more clearly demonstrate our obsession with erections than a man who receives a free sample packet of pills -- pills which claim to be all natural, “extremely safe” and to offer instant sexual response – and who proceeds to take the pills immediately without any thought to the consequences or his health. Two men who did this are cited in a recent AP story; one had a stroke, the other ended up in the hospital for four days. I think it was the use of the word “extremely” that gave it away for me. From the AP story:

Many of the pills marketed as safe herbal alternatives to Viagra and other prescription sex medications pose a hidden danger: For men on common heart and blood-pressure drugs, popping one could lead to a stroke, or even death.

"All-natural" products with names like Stamina-RX and Vigor-25 promise an apothecary's delight of rare Asian ingredients, but many work because they contain unregulated versions of the very pharmaceuticals they are supposed to replace.

The article goes on to highlight the health risk to men taking nitrates, who can greatly increase their risk of heart attack or stroke if they take the drugs that are in prescription ED medications like Viagra, Cialis, or Levitra. It also documents a steady rise in sales of herbal sex supplements (pegged at $400 million) as well as increased efforts by law enforcement to track down and prosecute companies that are selling supplements which contain known pharmaceutical ingredients (while falsely claming to be “all natural”). According to the article men have been turning up in emergency rooms in several states with severe headaches, nosebleeds, erections that won’t go away, vision problems, and more.

When I first read the AP story I kept thinking; why would someone just take a pill without any idea of what’s in it. Of course it immediately occurred to me that both legal pharmaceutical drug users and recreational drug users do this all the time. When was the last time you read the documentation that came with your medication? When was the last time your drug dealer even bother to put a label on what they sold you?

Ultimately I blame the fly-by-night businesses who are knowingly selling us Thai-Viagra laced herbal magic. But they’re never going to stop selling as long as there are a few more ways to spell C1a1i$ left in the world. So we should probably take some responsibility or at least try to help each other keep safe. Our problem is that between the medical model and the pharmaceutical industry, we’re trained to believe the pills fix problems, even if we don’t know how they work. Maybe it’s time for a safety campaign, along the lines of "Friends don’t let friends take herbal sex pills". I wonder if we could get Pfizer to give us money for the awards luncheon?

Read more – AP: Herbal Sex Pills Pose Hidden Dangers

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