Lamar Odom came off life support and regained consciousness today after collapsing while visiting a brothel in Nevada. The apparent culprit(s), according to the Nye County sheriff: cocaine combined with 10 tabs of natural “sexual performance enhancer supplements” — a.k.a. “herbal Viagra.” But it’s possible those supplements secretly contained the real deal. And it nearly cost Odom his life.
Normally, erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra and Cialis are only available by prescription, and there’s a good reason for that: the active ingredients can have some serious side effects when combined with other drugs. And when you have no idea you’re taking them, it’s hard to plan around potential drug interactions.
That’s the trouble with so many of these “natural” herbal products: they may contain things that aren’t on the label, because they’re not subject to same set of rigorous protocols and regulations as prescription drugs. In fact, FDA tests have found that a lot of these companies touting alternative herbal remedies for erectile dysfunction are spiking their herbal erection enhancers with actual Viagra.
Odom purportedly used a brand of supplement called Reload, which triggered an FDA warning in 2013 after it turned out to be just regular Viagra. And it’s not the only shady “herbal Viagra” supplement out there. This year alone, FDA tests found prescription ED drugs in the following herbal erectile enhancement products.
- 72HP: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- African Superman: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Baolong: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Bigger Longer More Time More Sperms: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Black Ant King: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Black Diamond: contains desmethyl carbodenafil, a chemical similar to sildenafil, as an undeclared ingredient
- Black King Kong: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Black Mamba Premium: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Black Panther: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- FX 3000: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Germany Niubian: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Happy Passengers: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Hard Wang: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Herb Viagra: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- King of Romance: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- La Papa Negra: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Libigrow XXX Treme: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Liu Bian Li: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- MME Maxman: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Male Silkworm Moth Nourishing Oral Liquid: contains vardenafil, the active ingredient in Levitra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Night Man: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Plant Vigra: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Rhino Blitz: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Santi Scalper: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Sex Men: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Stiff Nights: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Super Hard: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Tibet Babao: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Viagra 007: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Vigour 300: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Vigra: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
- Vim 25: contains sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra, as an undeclared ingredient.
This is just a fraction of the herbal erection products on the FDA’s Health Fraud page. But remember, they can’t possibly test everything that’s out there. If you decide to swallow one of these herbal supplements, you may well be getting more than is listed on its label.
Image credit: Joe Robbins/Getty Images.
Contact the author at diane@io9.com.