Herbal supplements 'taken by Lamar Odom' have been linked to death

Home Top

Kim, Kris, Kourtney and Kylie arrive back in LA by private jet as Khloe keeps vigil at comatose Lamar's bedside after he 'squeezed Kim's hand' - offering hope he may recover from brothel collapse
Tragedy as ABC News' medical expert Dr. Jamie Zimmerman, 31, drowns in Hawaii after losing her footing while crossing a river
Dismembered human torso with no head or limbs found floating in a Texas river
US spy chiefs hunt the new Snowden: Whistleblower leaks top secret drone assassination program that reveals how 90% of people killed in one 5-month spree WEREN'T targeted
Disgraced speaker Dennis Hastert will plead GUILTY of paying to cover up underage gay sex - and faces prison after agreeing to plea deal
Randy Quaid and wife Evi are freed from Canadian jail after judge rules there is not enough evidence to deport them to the U.S.
'It was straight out of a horror story': Brutally beaten dead body of mother hanging from a fence was dismissed by neighbors as a gory Halloween decoration
Welcome to Fakebook: More than 75% of people admit to making their lives seem more exciting on social media
Just a few weeks to go! Lauren Bush Lauren shows off a bulging baby bump at father-in-law Ralph's 76th birthday - as she prepares to welcome her first child next month
$Pic shows: Angel Ariel Escalante Perez was killed because he refused to murder.\n\nThis is the heartbreaking moment a dad embraces his critically ill son aged 12 who was thrown off a bridge by gangland thugs when he refused to kill a stranger.\n\nAngel Ariel Escalante Perez, 12, had been walking home from school when he was ambushed by the folks who decided to have some fun with the youngster.\n\nThey gave him a gun, and told him he had to shoot a bus driver or be killed himself.\n\nBecause his father Luis Escalante was a bus driver, the tearful schoolboy refused and said he would rather they killed him. They then gave him the choice of death by being chopped up by machetes, or thrown off a bridge.\n\nHe chose the latter, and as a result they threw him off the Incienso Bridge, located in Guatemala city, which is one of the longest bridges in Central America.\n\nDespite plunging an incredible 135 m (443 feet) he survived after landing in the thick foliage below but it also covered him$ Tragic moment father finds his dying son, 12, three days after he was thrown from a 450ft bridge for refusing to murder a 'random' bus driver - the job his parent has done for years
Escaped cartel boss El Chapo was 'cornered in rugged mountains in Mexico by soldiers' after US drug agents located his cell phone... but he managed to get away again
New CCTV from El Chapo prison break shows drug lord turning up his TV to drown out banging sound coming from his escape hole as control room guards ignore his absence for 25 MINUTES
EXCLUSIVE: Alcatraz escapees 'had wives and children in Brazil', their family claims - and they want their sentences commuted so they can 'come home' after 53 years
Paranormal investigator claims to have captured evidence of a black-eyed ghost child for the first time
A decapitated women, sacrificial dogs and a wooden 'sex toy': Danish Iron Age remains reveal macabre practices
EXCLUSIVE: Lamar Odom poured out his heart about marriage split from Khloe to brothel madam he kissed 'like a mother' - in between romps with two blondes and gorging on KFC and T-bone steaks
EXCLUSIVE: 'Khloe is the one person who can reach Lamar. It hurt him that they are not together' - coach who was father to Odom says Kardashians became his family and split led to 'craziness'
'Let's dance again together soon': Kylie Jenner posts throwback photo with Lamar Odom as she asks fans to send prayers
Khloe Kardashian 'battling with guilt' and 'overwhelming' duty of making medical decisions for Lamar... as her family leave hospital and return to LA
Kanye West is 'taking care of daughter North and Kourtney's three children' as Kardashian sisters visit Lamar at Vegas hospital
Khloe Kardashian hits back at 'publicity-seeking' boss of Nevada brothel where Lamar Odam was found who said the TV family tried to silence him from doing press
'I'm devastated!': Oprah Winfrey reveals she's pained by Lamar Odom's 'overdose' because it reminds her of her own sister's battle with addiction
$Christina Wren is seen attending Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles Builders Ball at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, California.\n\nPictured: Magic Johnson\nRef: SPL1152358 141015 \nPicture by: gotpap/Bauergriffin.com\n\n$ 'We just hope he pulls through': Magic Johnson sends heartfelt message Lamar Odom's way as his good friend fights for his life in hospital
Lamar Odom gets a visit from former Lakers teammate Trevor Ariza as NBA stars send their prayers to the player 'with the biggest heart' who used to buy new suits for rookies every season

Basketball star fighting for his life after 'taking ten tablets of herbal Viagra'
FDA has found 300 herbal products containing hidden prescription drugs like Viagra and Cialis
It warns these could be dangerous for people with high blood pressure
Around 90 per cent of counterfeit drugs are thought to be made in China
A source at a Las Vegas hospital said Odom also had cocaine and opiates in his system

Published: 07:40 EST, 14 October 2015 | Updated: 12:44 EST, 14 October 2015

View
comments

The potentially deadly effects of herbal Viagra like that apparently taken by basketball star Lamar Odom before he suffered heart failure have concerned health regulators for years.

The former LA Lakers player, 35, is fighting for his life after reportedly taking up to ten tablets of the performance-enhancing supplement.

A source at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas where Odom is currently being treated for what has been described as a non-suicidal drug overdose revealed to E! News this morning that doctors found 'virtually every drug imaginable' in his system, including cocaine and opiates, and that he is believed to have suffered a stroke and ‘choked on his mucus.’

Odom's condition has once again thrown the spotlight on the shady world of erectile dysfunction products that have long been linked to reports of stroke, kidney failure, liver injury and even death.

In its latest warning just two weeks ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it had found 300 herbal products that contained hidden ingredients including prescription drugs like Viagra and Cialis.

Scroll down for video

Counterfeit: The dangerous effects of herbal Viagra like that apparently taken by basketball star Lamar Odom before he suffered heart failure have alarmed health regulators for years. Products highlighted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration include African Superman (left) and Stiff Nights (right)

One product contained 31 times the prescription dose of tadalafil, the active ingredient in Cialis.

These ingredients work by encouraging blood flow to the sexual organs, which, the FDA warns, could be deadly for some, particularly those who take medication for high blood pressure and diabetes.

M. Daniel Dos Santos, of the FDA's Division of Dietary Supplement Programs, said in this month's report: 'A doctor needs to evaluate your total medical condition to know whether a particular medication is safe for you to use.

'If consumers are taking products that have undeclared drug ingredients, this leaves patients vulnerable to potentially serious drug interactions.'

Products highlighted by the FDA include African Superman, King of Romance and Stiff Nights. It did not say these products had caused serious ill health or death.

But it warned that its undeclared ingredients 'may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs such as nitroglycerin and may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels.'

Around 90 per cent of counterfeit medications come from China, according to LA Sheriff's investigators who recently found gypsum drywall powder and flour in drug seizures.

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which manufactures Viagra, also warns on its website of the dangers of buying counterfeit medications.

Suffered heart failure: Odom (pictured with his estranged wife Khloe Kardashian in May 2012) is fighting for his life after reportedly taking up to ten tablets of an unknown form of herbal Viagra

It says fake Viagra has been found to contain blue printer ink, amphetamines or speed, and a powerful antibiotic that can cause an allergic reaction, diarrhea or vomiting.

Even those most cautious consumer can be duped because the products are often labelled as 'all-natural' or 'herbal' alternatives to FDA-approved prescription drugs, the report added.

Gary Coody, the FDA's national health fraud co-ordinator, said: 'We're finding an alarming number of these products sold online and in retail stores.

'They're often sold in single-serving sizes in gas stations or vending machines.

'We've seen pills, coffees, chewing gum and dissolvable oral strips that contain hidden drug ingredients or untested chemicals.

The pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which manufactures Viagra, also warns on its website of the dangers of buying counterfeit medications

'Consumers have no way of knowing which drugs or ingredients are actually in the product just by reading the ingredients on the label.'

From 2007 to 2010, the FDA also pressured companies to recall nearly 200 inappropriately formulated products which were linked to reports of stroke, kidney failure, liver injury and death.

In 2008, four men died and seven others suffered severe brain damage after taking counterfeit Viagra in Singapore.

In 2011, the FDA warned of the dangers of a herbal product called ExtenZe, which resembled the real ExtenZe pills in every way expect for the added prescription-only chemicals tadalafil and sildenafil.

Both these active ingredients are in Cialis and Viagra and both drugs require a doctor's prescription.

It was the latest in a string of cases where real drugs for erectile dysfunction and other conditions appeared in herbal supplements that were marketed to treat those conditions.

In February of that year, Biotab voluntarily recalled two lots of counterfeit ExtenZe that contained tadalafil, sildenafil and sibutramine, a weight-loss pill that is not approved for sale in the U.S.

At the time, Biotab said that other counterfeit products might still be on store shelves.

Ilisa Bernstein, deputy director of the Office of Compliance in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said at the time: 'This incident is an example of a growing trend of products marketed as dietary supplements or conventional foods with hidden drugs and chemicals.

'These types of products are typically promoted for sexual enhancement, weight loss, and body building, and are often represented as being "all natural."

'Consumers should exercise caution before purchasing products promoted for these uses.'