The popularity of Erectile Dysfunction meds has skyrocketed over the past 15 years. Since the success of the highly marketed and highly profitable Viagra, other pharmaceutical companies have hopped on board with their own impotence drugs.

But it’s not only these large, legitimate companies producing meds for erectile dysfunction – there is an “underground” of pill producers making counterfeit pills which are colored, pressed, and packaged to look like real Viagra or other ED drugs.

These pills are deceptively spiked with a cocktail of abnormal ingredients, including traces of everything from amphetamines to talcum powder. Some of these “fake” ingredients can leave the user exposed to a number of new health problems unrelated to their sexual performance like high blood pressure or even death.

A study from teams in the UK, Sweden, and Pfizer reviewed 50 published studies from the past 15 years to find out just how many of these pills were being counterfeited and the potential health risks of these counterfeit drugs, known as phosphodioesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors. This class of drugs includes, of course, Viagra. This was published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

From SecuringPharma:

Seizures by law enforcement officers indicate that PDE5 inhibitors are the most commonly counterfeited class of drug in Europe, with 35.8 million sildenafil tablets alone intercepted between 2004 and 2008, the IJCP article notes. An estimated 0.6-2.5 million men in Europe could be exposed to illicit sildenafil. As a point of comparison, the authors add, IMS Health estimates the number of people taking legal sildenafil in the EU at 2.5 million in 2006.

Analyses by Pfizer of suspected counterfeit Viagra found that only 10.1 per cent of samples labelled ‘Viagra 100mg’ were within 10 per cent of the advertised tablet strength. Substitute ingredients identified in fake sildenafil tablets have included amphetamine, caffeine, talcum powder, paints, printer ink, paracetamol, the antibiotics metronidazole and chloramphenicol, and the antidepressant fluoxetine, along with large quantities of unidentified impurities.

These facts are astounding – over 35.8 million fake Viagra tablets makes ED drugs the most commonly counterfeited drug in the world with over 2.5 million men taking drugs that can potentially have fatal consequences. Not to mention these pills are filled with the drug Speed and inorganic compounds from paints and inks which are not intended to ever be ingested.

Protect Yourself from Counterfeit Drugs
It is estimated from the study that roughly 44% of Viagra sold over the Internet to Europeans is counterfeit.  These numbers could be the same or higher in the United States.  Cutting corners on the Internet is great for many male impotence products, but when it comes to drugs and supplements, be sure that what you’re taking is what your doctor intended you to take.

To the nearly two-thirds of men finding cheap “Viagra” online without prescriptions: be aware that what you’re buying could be a counterfeit that costs your health or even your life.