Man had to go to hospital because of illegal erection enhancers

The Swissmedic Institute for Medicines warns against taking sexual enhancers from illegal sources. The background is a current case. A man had to go to the hospital after using such erection enhancers.

The person concerned was taken to the emergency room of a Swiss hospital at the beginning of this year, Swissmedic writes in a press release on Friday. He suffered from a permanent erection, twitching in his legs and back pain.

The drug used by the man was analyzed in the lab after the incident. According to the information, it turned out that the man had taken a multiple of the recommended maximum dose. This while he had only taken two pills. The reason was that the active substance sildenafil was dosed too heavily in the unapproved drug from abroad.

According to the statement, this is not an isolated case. Swissmedic found massive overdoses in 15 percent of all illegal sexual enhancers examined. About half of the preparations have quality defects.

Increased doses did not have a stronger effect, Swissmedic stated. On the contrary, they increase the risk of side effects. In people with risk factors, cardiac arrhythmias or even heart attacks can result.

According to the authorities, erection stimulants are by far the drugs most often illegally imported into Switzerland. According to Swissmedic, Swiss customs intercepted nearly 6,800 packages of medicines in 2022. 79 percent of them contained sexual enhancers.

Medicines that are not approved often contain no active ingredient or the wrong active ingredient or toxic or addictive substances, Swissmedic warned in its statement. So they pose a major health risk. (sda)