Advisory - Heath Canada warns consumers about unauthorized drugs sold online

OTTAWA, April 27, 2017 /CNW/ -

Issue
Health Canada is warning Canadians about unauthorized health products, including unauthorized prescription drugs, sold online at sarms.ca. The products were promoted for various uses, including fitness and bodybuilding.

All drug products sold in Canada, including those sold over the Internet, must be approved for sale by Health Canada before they can be sold. Taking drugs that have not been authorized by Health Canada may pose serious health risks as they have not been assessed for safety, effectiveness or quality.

Prescription drugs should be used only under the supervision of a health care professional and obtained only from a source authorized to dispense prescription drugs. Consumers who take a prescription drug without being examined and monitored by a health care professional may not receive appropriate treatment. They may also put themselves at risk for drug interactions and dangerous side effects.

Affected products

• Unauthorized health products from sarms.ca, such as clomid (clomiphene), salbutamol, tadalafil, tamoxifen, clenbuterol, andarine, ostarine, trestolone, and cardarine

Who is affected

• Consumers who have purchased or used unauthorized health products from sarms.ca.

What consumers should do

• Stop using these products. Consult with your health care professional if you have used any of these products and have concerns or require treatment for your medical condition.
• Read product labels to verify that health products have been authorized for sale by Health Canada. Authorized health products have an eight-digit Drug Identification Number (DIN), Natural Product Number (NPN) or Homeopathic Drug Number (DIN-HM). You can also check if products have been authorized for sale by searching Health Canada's Drug Product Database, Licensed Natural Health Product Database or Medical Devices Active Licence Listing (MDALL).
• Report adverse events to health products to Health Canada by calling toll-free at 1‑866‑234‑2345, or by reporting online, by mail or by fax.
• Report complaints about health products to Health Canada by calling toll-free at 1‑800‑267‑9675, or complete an online complaint form.
• Be aware of the risks of buying drugs online.

What Health Canada is doing
Health Canada has requested that the seller behind the website stop importing, selling and advertising unauthorized health products. Health Canada is working with the Canadian Border Services Agency to help prevent further importation of these products. Should the seller continue to promote and sell unauthorized health products that may pose a risk to Canadians, Health Canada will take appropriate action.

Background
The website sarms.ca has advertised various unauthorized drug products for sale, such as:

• Clomid (clomiphene), salbutamol, tadalafil, and tamoxifen are prescription drugs that should be used only under the supervision of a health care professional. Prescription drugs can cause serious side effects and interact with other drugs or foods. Clomid is used in women to treat some types of infertility, salbutamol is used to treat asthma and other respiratory disorders involving narrowing of the airways, tadalafil is used to treat erectile dysfunction, and tamoxifen is used to treat certain types of breast cancer.
• Clenbuterol is a veterinary drug and is not authorized for human use in Canada.
• Andarine, ostarine and trestolone are drugs (trestolone is also subject to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act) that are not authorized in Canada for any use, which means they have not been reviewed by Health Canada for safety, effectiveness and quality.
• Cardarine is another drug that is not authorized in Canada for any use. The sarms.ca website also lists cardarine as GW501516. All clinical development of GW501516 was stopped when toxicities, including various cancers, were discovered following routine, long-term animal studies.

This is not a complete list of all of the unauthorized drugs advertised and sold via the website. This list is being provided to help inform consumers of the types of risks they are exposing themselves to when taking unauthorized drugs purchased from this site.

For more information

• Risks of buying drugs over the internet
• Risks of buying natural health products online
• Risks of buying medical devices from the internet

Stay connected with Health Canada and receive the latest advisories and product recalls using social media tools.

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SOURCE Health Canada

Media Enquiries: Health Canada, [phone]; Public Enquiries: [phone], 1-866 225-0709