Fake Viagra warning: Alert after 80pc of pills sold online revealed to be counterfeit
Britain is being flooded with dangerous fake Viagra pills that could contain printer ink, road paint and even detergents, an expert warned today.
Latest figures suggest Viagra is now the UK’s biggest counterfeit drug, with more than £6.2million worth of dodgy little blue pills seized by UK regulators last year.
The sum means more supplies of the erectile dysfunction medication were impounded than knock-off versions of painkillers like morphine.
But Dr Bhavini Shah, a GP at Lloydspharmacy Online Doctor, also said 80 per cent of Viagra bought online is ‘estimated to be fake’ leaving patients vulnerable to potentially contaminated versions.
While Viagra is available from a pharmacy without prescription for around £4, fake versions can cost as little as £1.
Drugs sold on physical shelves in the UK must undergo strict quality control to ensure they are as safe as possible for people to use.
Yet, many drugs bought online are ‘unregulated and often produced in unhygienic conditions, exposing it to toxic substances’, warned Dr Shah.
‘Lab tests have found harmful ingredients like detergents, road paint, printer ink, and even amphetamines.’
NHS chiefs spent a total of £16.4million providing drugs to treat erectile dysfunction in 2023, about £3.60 per script
A total of 4.57million prescriptions for sildenafil, more commonly known by the brand name Viagra, and other types of impotency drugs sold under the brand names Cialis and Levitra, were dished out by the health service in 2023
‘Dosages of sildenafil, Viagra’s active ingredient, are inconsistent and can be dangerously high — or absent altogether — making counterfeit pills highly unsafe.
‘It can be hard to distinguish fake Viagra from the real thing without lab testing.
‘If unsure about a pill’s origin, don’t take it. To spot fakes, check for consistent colour, diamond shape, and smooth edges.’
Another reason to avoid buying chemical bedroom aides online is that the pills themselves can be dangerous, Dr Shah cautioned.
Not all men, such as those with heart problems, should take sildenafil due to the potential impact the drug can have on the organ.
Reputable pharmacists will ask men interested in taking the medication vital questions about their health for this reason.
‘If cost is a concern, consider generic sildenafil,’ advised Dr Shah, ‘which contains the same ingredient and works the same as Viagra.’
The latest data, released in October, from the UK’s drugs regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), showed 2.6million doses of sildenafil were confiscated last year.
This map shows the areas where people were most and least likely to be prescribed sildenafil the key ingredient in the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra on the NHS
Another half-million doses of tadalafil, another erectile dysfunction drug sold under the brand Cialis, worth £1.2million, were also seized.
At the time, Andy Morling, the MHRA’s head of enforcement, said many men were seeking cheaper drugs online or seeking to avoid going to bricks and mortar pharmacist out of embarrassment.
‘Online is the new front line this is almost exclusively an online trade,’ he said.
‘There are tens of thousands of websites globally and many of them sell in sterling and ship to the UK.’
It comes as separate data suggests millions of British men are now taking the libido boosting drug.
A total of 3million prescriptions of sildenafil for erectile dysfunction were dished out by the NHS in 2023 alone.
This doesn’t account for many other Brits buying it over the counter privately from high street or online pharmacies.
While the vast majority of people taking sildenafil will experience no problems, an estimated one in 100 patients will suffer common side effects from taking the medication.
These include headaches, nausea, hot flushes, indigestion, a stuffy nose and dizziness, according to the NHS.
Erectile dysfunction affects 4.3million men in the UK, including half of all men aged 40 to 70.
One in 10 will experience erectile dysfunction at some point in their lifetime.
Drugs like Viagra are used to manage erectile dysfunction in at least two thirds of cases, according to the NHS.
Erectile dysfunction often acts as a marker of a man’s overall health.
An inability to get or maintain erection could be a result of undiagnosed high cholesterol or blood pressure or even a warning sign of cardiovascular disease, according to experts.
This is because blood vessels need to dilate for blood to flow to the penis and allow a man to get erect.
But cardiovascular disease can narrow the arteries meaning less blood can flow through — making it difficult to get or maintain an erection.
