Fake penile pills booming in Australian blackmarket, say investigators

While Australia’s sex shops are booming with penile pills sales, medical authorities warn that the drugs could kill.

According to a News Corp report, in recent years the nation's blackmarket has been thriving with fake erectile dysfunction pills. The Outlaw Motor Cycle Gangs (OMCGs) are allegedly responsible for manufacturing and selling the potentially lethal products.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has already seized more than 40 different fake erectile medications from adult shops. A registered erectile dysfunction medication, Viagra is available only with a prescription and costs more than the generic and counterfeit brands. The department has received many referrals about the import as well as the supply of these types of medicines, said a TGA spokesman.

Generically, Viagra is known as sildenafil, which helps boost blood flow to a man's penis so he can maintain an erection. But this popular drug was invented accidentally, to treat angina, a heart condition that constricts the vessels that supply the organ with blood.

Although the TGA has identified a vast number of fake sexual medicine importers, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions has prosecuted only four people for importing as well as supplying unapproved erectile or weight loss products since 2013, said reports from Fairfax.

Police in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales have also received intelligence reports suggesting organised crime is behind the fake ED drugs. The people found guilty were fined up to $4,000 and two of them were placed on good behaviour bonds.

“The problem with counterfeit or unregistered medicine is you can’t be guaranteed of the purity or the strength of the tablets,” said Brian Morton, chair of the Council of General Practice for the Australian Medical Association.

Some drug manufacturers are also known to replace the drugs with cyanide, which is a highly toxic chemical compound. “To produce the tablet and extract of things they sometimes use harmful products to release the chemical. That’s some of the issue with counterfeit stuff coming out of backyard labs or from India and China; you don’t know how they’ve actually been manufactured,” he added.

According to health experts in Australia, these medicines can have fatal effects. Pills such as “Man Up Now,” “Stallion Pro,” “Black King Kong” and “African Superman” are abundantly available in the market and can cause serious health issues.

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