Male enhancement pills sold nationwide on Amazon recalled
Five brands of male sexual enhancement capsules sold nationwide on Amazon are being recalled after tests found samples tainted with an unapproved drug for treating male erectile dysfunction.
In the last week alone, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has posted four separate recalls of products by little-known companies that had been "notified by Amazon that laboratory analysis has found the product to be tainted with tadalafil," according to the agency.
Tadalafil is an ingredient in FDA-approved products prescribed by physicians for the treatment of male erectile dysfunction, and its presence in over-the-counter supplements makes them an unapproved drug for which the safety and efficacy is not established, according to the FDA.
The products would be of particular concern for people with underlying medical conditions like diabetes, high-blood pressure or heart disease, according to the recall notices. That's because tadalafil can interact with some prescription drugs and lower blood pressure to dangerous and possibly life-threatening levels.
The recalls include certain boxes of The Red Pill, sold on Amazon by Jackson, New Jersey-based Your Favorite Shop, according to an announcement posted Tuesday by the FDA. The recalled product, branded as "The Red Pill That Never Sleeps," bears the lot number 26436989 and expires on October 30, 2023.
Your Favorite Shop is sending Amazon messages to customers to arrange for the return of the recalled product. However, calls to the number provided went to a voice mail that had not yet been set up, and a query to the email provided went unanswered.
It was not clear from the recall notice if there are other lot numbers of the product, and if so whether they are considered safe for people to use. Currently unavailable on Amazon and out of stock on Walmart, the Red Pill was for sale on eBay on Tuesday, but had been taken off the site by Wednesday morning.
A separate recall notice also posted Tuesday by the FDA involved Mac Daddy Red and Mac Daddy Purple capsules sold by Monsey, New York-based ABC Sales 1. The recalled capsules have expiration dates of March 30, 2024, and lot number 1230004 and 1230005.
The number provided for consumers with concerns reached a voice mail, with a message left by CBS MoneyWatch not returned.
A third recall posted by the FDA on Tuesday came from Brentwood, New York-based Celebrate Today and its Red Mammoth dietary supplement for male enhancement. The affected Red Mammoth packages include lot DK1027 with an expiration date of August 1, 2023. The number provided for consumers to call for more information was disconnected.
The trio of recalls follows a nearly identically worded one on Friday involving Brooklyn, New York-based Junp's MegMan Performance Booster capsules with a lot number 2010291 that expire January 7, 2024. As with the other recalls, Junp's capsules were sold online and distributed nationwide by Amazon.
Calls to a number provided in the recall notice went to an unidentified voice mail and were not returned.
The recalls come less than two weeks after a nearly identically worded one for another brand of male sexual enhancement capsules, called Hard Dawn Rise and Shine, also sold on Amazon. That company, Orangevale, California-based Esupplementsales, recalled lot number 2107 with a July 2024 expiration date. The company did not respond to calls and emails.
The FDA has long cautioned Americans against a multitude of male enhancement or weight loss products found to contain hidden ingredients, saying they can pose "a significant health risk."
Despite a decade of warnings, the agency "continues to find potentially dangerous products available for purchase on the internet, including from online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, as well as in retail stores," the FDA stated in late 2020.
The FDA in December warned against buying nine potentially dangerous sexual enhancement products from Walmart.com, and in July notified Amazon that its distribution of sexual enhancement and weight loss products violates the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, according to the agency.
"Walmart takes our customer's safety very seriously. When the FDA issues recalls, we take immediate action to pull recalled items and block them from being re-added to the assortment, including the ones you mentioned," a spokesperson for the retailing giant said in an email.
A spokesperson for eBay stated in an email that "eBay is committed to maintaining a safe and trusted marketplace for our global community of buyers and sellers. We have instituted strict policies and invested significant resources to prevent recalled items on our marketplace.
The FDA and Amazon did not respond to requests for clarification.
