No Wonder It Works So Well: There May Be Viagra In That Herbal Supplement

They claim to help you sleep, make your hair grow, speed weight loss, improve your sex life and ward off the nasty cold going around the office. Though it’s often impossible to tell if dietary supplements work, consumers generally feel certain they can’t hurt. But they can. The Food and Drug Administration has identified hundreds of supplements tainted with pharmaceuticals — from antidepressants and erectile dysfunction remedies to weight-loss drugs — since 2007, a study published Friday shows. Even after FDA tests proved the supplements contained unapproved or recalled medications, many of the products continued to be marketed and sold, the analysis finds. The report in JAMA Network Open calls into question the FDA’s ability to effectively police the $35-billion-a-year supplements industry. “The FDA didn’t even bother to recall more than half of the potentially hazardous supplements,” says Dr. Pieter