'Traditional medicine' factory raided

Food and Drug Administration officials and police raided a traditional medicine factory in Pathum Thani's Khlong Luang district that was producing pills for erectile dysfunction, FDA chief Dr Boonchai Somboonsuk said yesterday.

In the Monday raid, officials seized pills worth Bt2,475,000 and ordered that the Thanat Herb Panich factory be closed for 120 days or until it complied with the law.

Prior to the raid, the pills were sent for lab tests and were found to contain sildenafil, the chemical compound used in Viagra. Sildenafil can be harmful if not taken under prescription.

The products were reportedly advertised under the Yin Pang Pang and Well101 brands, with cable-TV commercials making exaggerated claims. In addition, the medicines' registration numbers were for a type of balm. The mixing of modern medicine into a drug branded as traditional could be within the frame of fake drugs, Boonchai said.

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