Criminals exploit ‘stigma and embarrassment’ to sell fake erectile dysfunction drugs

Men have been warned against buying illegal erectile dysfunction pills online after nearly 20m pills – enough to fill two doubledecker buses – were seized in the last five years.

The “stigma and embarrassment” of erectile dysfunction is being “exploited by criminals”, according to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Between 2021 and 2025, the MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit, working closely with Border Force to intercept shipments, seized about 19.5m doses of erectile dysfunction medicines, equivalent to a single dose for three in every four adult men in the UK. Many of the pills seized contained no active ingredient, the wrong dose, hidden drugs or toxic ingredients, the MHRA said.

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Source: The Guardian, 13 February 2026