The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has revoked marketing authorisation permits for the sale and distribution of six vitality herbal medicines for men.
The products are Rockman Capsules, manufactured by RockCare Clinic; Angel Natural Capsules by Angel Herbal Products Industry and Tinattet Be4 Be4 Capsules by Tinattet Marketing Co. Ltd.
The others are Adom Gentleman Power Capsules, manufactured by Dependable Pharmacy; Laud P Capsules by the Stephen Gyan Herbal Centre and Mars for Men, imported by Joe D.D. Ventures.
All the products were found to have been adulterated with Vardenafil, a synthetic pharmaceutical ingredient used in the formulation of prescription-only medicine for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.
Vardenafil is closely related in function to Viagra.
Ironically, checks by the Daily Graphic indicates that some of the banned sex ‘drugs’ have FDA certification.
But some players in the herbal preparation industry question the move by the FDA saying that unless the certification was fake the FDA had to answer some questions.
Notice
The FDA has subsequently served notice to the above-mentioned companies to immediately halt all advertisement of the products and cooperate with the authority to recall those already on the market.
A statement signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the FDA, Mr Hudu Mogtari, and issued by the authority in Accra yesterday said the use of Vardenafil might have serious health implications such as cerebro-vascular hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain) which could lead to stroke.
“It could even cause heart attack, palpitation and serious cardiovascular events, including sudden cardiac death,” it said.
Explaining further, Mr Mogtari said the adulteration of the products could also lead to sustained erection and the resultant factor could be impotence.
“Kidney failure, problems with sight and hearing can also not be ruled out,” he said.
He cautioned the public against the continued patronage of the herbal medicines.
Market recall
Mr Mogtari said the authority had put in place a monitoring mechanism to ensure that the producers, distributors and marketers did not sell the products on the blind side of the FDA.
He also hinted of possible sanctions against the manufacturers and distributors of the six products.
The FDA was also appealing to the public to provide information on persons dealing in the products, as well as others which could endanger public health and safety, he added.
Source: graphic.com
