The Health Ministry’s pharmaceutical crime unit seized counterfeit “erectile
dysfunction” pills named SharkEssence, it was announced on Wednesday.
The
pills were checked and each was found to contain 183 milligrams of sildenafil
citrate, the active ingredient in the prescription drug Viagra, and 27
milligrams of tadalafil, the active ingredient in Cialis. The concentrations are
higher than the maximum amounts; there are 100 milligrams in authentic Viagra
pills and 20 milligrams in Cialis.
The ministry said use of these
smuggled pills would be dangerous to public health. In addition, the ministry
said it had no indication as to where the pills were made, how they were stored
or how they were smuggled into the country.
The ministry warned the
public to only purchase medications from licensed pharmacies and not via the
Internet or inside Israel from unauthorized vendors.