OTTAWA, July 23, 2016 /CNW/ -

The issue:

Health Canada has seized two unauthorized products being promoted as natural health products for sexual enhancement from Désirs et Plaisirs in St-Jérôme, Quebec. These products were found to contain undeclared prescription drug substances and other drug substances that may pose serious risks to the health of Canadians.

Products affected:

Who is affected:

Consumers who have bought or used any of the affected products.

What consumers should do

• Consult with your health care pratitioner if you have used this product and have health concerns.
• Read product labels to verify that health products have been authorized for sale by Health Canada. Authorized products have an eight-digit DIN, DIN-HM or NPN.
• Verify if products have been authorized for sale by searching the Drug Product Database and the Licensed Natural Health Product Database.
• Report any adverse events to Health Canada.
• Report complaints about health products to Health Canada by calling toll-free 1-800-267-9675, or by completing an online complaint form.

Background:

Thiodimethylsildenafil and thiomethisosildenafil are unauthorized substances similar to sildenafil.
Products containing sildenafil should only be used under the supervision of a healthcare practitioner. Sildenafil should never be used by individuals taking any kind of nitrate drug (e.g. nitroglycerine) as it can cause potentially life-threatening low blood pressure. Individuals with heart problems, including high blood pressure, a history of heart attack, stroke, abnormal heart beat or chest pain, are at higher risk of cardiovascular side effects. Other possible side effects of using sildenafil include headache, facial flushing, indigestion, dizziness, abnormal vision and hearing loss.

How to report side effects to health products to Health Canada:

• Call toll-free at 1-866-234-2345
• Visit MedEffect Canada's web page on Adverse Reaction Reporting for information on how to report online, by mail or by fax.

Stay connected with Health Canada and receive the latest advisories and product recalls using social media tools.

What Health Canada is doing:

Health Canada has seized these products from the retail location. Should additional retailers or distributors of these products be identified, Health Canada will take appropriate action and inform Canadians.

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SOURCE Health Canada

PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2016/07/23/20160723_C2328_PDF_EN_740418.pdf