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Indonesia Launches Crackdown On Sex Stimulants
By Mohd Nasir Yusof
Bernama
The Indonesian Drug and Food Monitoring Agency (BPOM) has launched a major crackdown on sex stimulants.
Twenty-one types of stimulants believed to give men "staying power" during sex have been banned since the operation began a week ago as they are believed to contain chemical substances that can kill.
BPOM chief Husniah Rubiana Thamrin Akib said the drugs were produced by mixing traditional medicines with sildenafil citrate and tadalafil, used to treat impotence.
Among the products are Tripoten, Maca Gold, Rama Stamin, Urat Perkasa Kapsul, Lavaria, Blue Moon, Manovel, Lak Gao, Sari Madu Kapsul, Cobra X Kapsul, Sanomale, Otot Madu and Serbuk Kuat Tahan Lama.
Some of the drugs are sold in pharmacies as health supplements while others can be obtained from small sundry shops and numerous roadside peddlers as "obat kuat" (staying-power medicines).
Antara news agency reported that BPOM had seized more than 200,000 packets of sex stimulants and health supplements containing sildenafil citrate and tadalafil in 19 provinces.
The crackdown began after a man was confirmed dead after taking the drugs, said Husniah.
It is believed that there were other casualties but family members did not allow autopsies to be done on them.
"We have cases of sudden death among men in their 30's. Family members would rather want them to be considered as having died of heart failure rather than due to taking sex stimulants," she said.
The sex stimulants could prove fatal to those having heart problems or are taking medication for heart ailments, she said, adding that even Viagra and tadalafil could only be sold with doctors' prescription.
Husniah said two pharmacies and 11 traditional medicine producers would be charged in court for producing the sex stimulants.