NZ govt: "Viagra found in alternative medicine"

A new agreement with Australia on regulating alternative medicines in New Zealand has been justified on the grounds that prescription drugs have been mixed into some complementary products. Responding to questions in the New Zealand Parliament about the proposed Therapeutic Products and Medicines Bill and how it affects alternative medicines, Annette King, the Minister of State Services, said: "New Zealand's existing therapeutic products law is outdated and unsustainable, and does not adequately manage the public health risks associated with the use of complimentary medicines."

Ms King added that three deaths and other adverse reactions have been reported to New Zealand's monitoring authorities. She said: "complementary medicines have been found to be adulterated with pharmaceutical medicines - such as Viagra [sildenafil] - or to contain dangerous amounts of heavy metals, such as lead." Global drug giant Pfizer's erectile dysfunction drug is considered to be the product most commonly targeted by counterfeiters (Marketletters passim).