Health Canada is warning people that unauthorized sexual enhancement products sold in at least three provinces may pose serious health risks.
In a public advisory published on Wednesday, the agency told people to stop using the 372 different products they’d identified — with names like Spanish Fly 22,000, Rhino 69 and Magnum Gold — and consult a health-care professional if they have any concerns.
Health Canada says it has seized the products from stores in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario because they have been found to contain “dangerous ingredients.”
“Unauthorized health products have not been approved by Health Canada, which means that they have not been assessed for safety, effectiveness and quality,” the agency said.
Last year, Health Canada issued four other warnings about sexual enhancement products, including counterfeit erectile dysfunction drugs seized at Toronto convenience stores. In a similar warning last May, Health Canada identified 421 unauthorized sexual enhancement products sold mostly in Ontario, but also in Quebec, Alberta and B.C.
One of the dozen ingredients the agency highlighted on Wednesday is sildenafil, a prescription drug used to treat erectile dysfunction that the agency notes should be used only under the supervision of a health-care professional.
If used in combination with any kind of nitrate drug, it can cause “potentially life-threatening low blood pressure,” Health Canada said, and anyone with heart problems would be at an increased risk for heart attack, stroke, chest pain, high blood pressure and abnormal heartbeat.
Also included among dangerous ingredients in the products was prasterone, a prescription steroid hormone for vaginal insertion for the treatment of postmenopausal vulvovaginal atrophy. It’s illegal to sell it without proper authorization from Health Canada, and has not been approved to be taken orally.
The drug, which transforms in the body into androgen and estrogen hormones, may increase the risk of liver damage, heart attack, stroke, reduced fertility, hardening of the arteries and “the development of male characteristics in women (e.g., increased facial hair), and enlargement or tenderness of male breasts or nipples,” Health Canada said.
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