Your Herbal Supplements May Be More Dangerous Than You Think

By Thomas Greer | February 20, 2015

Herbal Supplements DangerousIt recently came to light that the herbal supplements sold in stores like Walmart, Target, Walgreens and GNC may contain little to none of the herbs they claim to possess. In some cases, the supplements contained nothing more than powdered rice and harmless house plants, and posed no true risk to the people who took them. Other supplements, however, contained what – and for people with Celiac disease, taking the pills could have put them in serious danger. By mislabeling the bottles, the retailers put all of their customers at risk. So far, Walgreens and Target have pulled all of their “questionable” supplements from their shelves nationwide, while GNC and Walmart have pulled them only from stores in New York.

But a recent Forbes article tells a new, perhaps even more horrifying story of an online retailer called Detox Transforms, “whose products were found by the FDA to contain prescription drugs or other substances that cause the products to be defined as ‘unapproved drugs’ under the Federal Food, Drugs & Cosmetic Act.”

Dangerous drugs masquerading as supplements

Sadly, Detox Transforms is hardly the only company to commit this kind of fraud, referred to as “economically-motivated adulteration” by industry insiders and regulators. Each of the following products has been found to contain some type of unlabeled chemical or prescription medication within their contents:

  • EDGE Amplified Weight Loss and INSANE Bee Pollen products, Detox Transforms – contain sildenafil, an erectile dysfunction drug; phenolphthalein, a laxative; and fluoxetine, a component of Prozac
  • INDIGO and BTRIM Max weight loss products, Detox Transforms – contain phenolphthalein
  • Vitamin B capsules, Healthy Life Chemistry by Purity First – contain the anabolic steroids methasterone (a Schedule III controlled substance) and dimethazine
  • Multi-Mineral and Vitamin C capsules, Healthy Life Chemistry by Purity First – contain steroids
  • Dick’s Hard Up herbal male enhancement capsules, TK McBudde, Inc. – contains tadalafil, a component of Cialis
  • WOW and Reumofan Plus pain relievers, Riger Naturals S.A. – contain dexamethasone (a corticosteroid anti-inflammatory), diclofenac (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory), and methocarbamol (a muscle relaxant)

These are but a few of the “herbal supplements” on (and off) the market which contain prescription medications in their ingredients, and none of these companies listed those ingredients on the label. Their fraudulent practices could have cost the lives of innocent people all over the country. The four retailers selling Echinacea that is really powdered asparagus are just as guilty.

Trusted attorneys service Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee

If you were duped by a company selling fraudulent herbal supplements, you may have more options than you think. At Bailey & Greer, PLLC you work with skilled West Tennessee product liability lawyers at every step. Please contact our office for more information.

Posted in Blog, Dangerous Drugs