U.S. agency warned
consumers on 'herbal Viagra' linked to Odom
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[October 15, 2015]
By Fiona Ortiz
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. health authorities
warned consumers recently about dangers of so-called herbal Viagra,
non-prescription products sold to enhance sexual performance, reportedly
used by former professional basketball player Lamar Odom, who is in
critical condition in a Las Vegas hospital. The cause of Odom's collapse
is not known.
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The hospital has not commented on his condition, but entertainment
website TMZ.com reported that Odom was on life support after
collapsing in a legal brothel in Nevada on Tuesday.
Brothel owner Dennis Hof said in an email that staff there had
reported Odom was taking herbal sexual enhancement capsules.
Gregory Bales, a professor of surgery and a urologist at the
University of Chicago, said an unregulated sex performance
supplement could cause a severe reaction.
"You can get into trouble because some of these remedies for sexual
prowess are stimulants. For sure, these supplements, taken in
sufficient quantity, can cause problems with your cardiovascular
system," Bales said.
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Bales, who handles sexual dysfunction cases, said patients ask him
about supplements every week.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found that some
supplements sold as herbal alternatives to Viagra or Cialis contain
the active ingredients of those drugs. Sildenafil, the active
ingredient in Viagra, can be dangerous for someone with an
undiagnosed cardiac issue, Bales said.
Dozens of supplements are sold online and in retail establishments
and touted as natural or herbal versions of prescription drugs for
erectile dysfunction, the Food and Drug Administration said in a
consumer update released on Oct. 1.
The update warned that products falsely marketed as "dietary
supplements" that promise to enhance sexual performance are "a risky
proposition."
"We're finding an alarming number of these products sold online and
in retail stores," the agency's national health fraud coordinator
Gary Coody said in the report. He said they are often sold in
single-serving sizes at gas stations or from vending machines.
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"We've seen pills, coffees, chewing gum and dissolvable oral strips
that contain hidden drug ingredients or untested chemicals," Coody
said.
The consumer warning said the risk is that the products often
contain drug ingredients that could interact dangerously with heart
disease medicines or other prescription drugs.
The 6-foot, 10-inch-tall (2-metre) athlete has long been reported to
have had issues with cocaine abuse, although this has never been
publicly confirmed. He has admitted only to using marijuana.
During the 2000-2001 season, Odom was suspended for violating the
National Basketball Association's antidrug policy. In 2013, he
pleaded no contest in Los Angeles to a charge of driving under the
influence and was ordered to undergo rehabilitation for three months
for alcohol abuse.
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