Men are being urged to keep away from buying unauthorised erectile dysfunction capsules on-line after a staggering 20 million unlawful tablets had been seized previously 5 years.
The Medicines and Healthcare merchandise Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued the alert, highlighting that the “stigma and embarrassment” surrounding erectile dysfunction is being “exploited by criminals”.
The company’s legal enforcement unit confiscated roughly 19.5 million doses of purported ED medicine between 2021 and 2025, together with 4.4 million doses in 2025 alone.
The MHRA cautioned that many of those illicit capsules both lacked any lively ingredient or contained incorrect dosages. Worryingly, some had been discovered to harbour hidden medicine and poisonous substances.
Andy Morling, head of the MHRA’s legal enforcement unit, stated: “Stigma and embarrassment are being exploited by criminals selling fake medicines that can seriously harm your health.
“These seizures show the sheer scale of the illegal market for erectile dysfunction medicines in the UK – and the risks people are taking without realising.
“Any medicine not authorised for sale in the UK can be unsafe or ineffective and there is no way of knowing what is in them or the negative health effects they can have.
“These pills may look genuine, but many are potentially dangerous. These products may contain no active ingredient, the wrong dose, hidden drugs or toxic ingredients.”
Annual seizures of unlawful erectile dysfunction capsules have greater than doubled since 2022.
The MHRA’s legal enforcement unit can also be cracking down on on-line sellers.
Working with web service suppliers, the regulator disrupted greater than 1,500 web sites and social media accounts illegally promoting medical merchandise in 2025, and eliminated 1,200 social media posts.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/erectile-dysfunction-pills-crackdown-online-b2919281.html