Most rogue online pharmacies operate outside the US and get their supplies from overseas sources, usually from unregulated drug factories in India and China where low-quality generic medications are manufactured.

Many blame fake Internet pharmacies for increased prescription and controlled drug abuse in the US, and there have been lots of calls to shut them down, but that’s much easier said than done.

Over the past few years, the FDA, FTC, and other non-governmental organizations have managed to close down thousands of illegal Internet pharmacies, but thousands of new ones keep popping up everyday, and the war continues…

So, how to tell if a pharmacy site is illegal?

Most shady online drugstores can be identified by just taking a close look at the different sections/pages of the site. The following are some common indications of an untrustworthy pharmacy site:

• Does not provide a physical address.
• Sells controlled drugs without requiring a valid prescription.
• Does not reveal the dispensing pharmacy name or address.
• Sells non-FDA-approved medications, like generic Viagra, generic Cialis, etc.
• Offers “large” packs of prescription drugs for low prices, e.g. 400 Viagra pills for $500.

Viagra has been used to treat some extreme conditions in babies where other treatment options failed or were not available. For example, Lewis Goodfellow, a prematurely born baby at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, weighed only 1lb. and 8 oz. with one failed lung, which resulted in oxygen-deficient blood throughout his body. Doctors in the hospital had tried Viagra to improve blood circulation in the baby’s body, and it worked! The drug caused the blood vessels in the lungs to relax and dilate, and that just saved the little one’s life.

There are some other instances and conditions where Viagra had literally saved the life of a baby, especially those who were born with heart, lung and/or circulation problems.

That won’t be very surprising if you knew how Viagra works. Even though Viagra is touted as a sex drug, it actually does not directly address any sex organs or hormones in the male body. Sildenafil is a PDE5 inhibitor, which relaxes smooth muscle cells that line the wall of blood vessels in some parts of the human body. As a result, those blood vessels become wider allowing more blood to flow through them. In fact, it was accidentally discovered that Sildenafil helps men get an erection, when the Pfizer-manufactured drug was primarily tested and used to treat pulmonary hypertension (a high blood pressure condition), and stiff erections were reported as a side effect. Pfizer then decided to develop and market Sildenafil as an ED medicine under the brand name Viagra.

Finasteride is an FDA approved drug that is used to treat male pattern baldness (MPB). It is marketed by NJ-based Merck under the brand name Propecia.

In recent years, there have been many reports by consumers of Propecia indicating negative sexual side effects of the drug, which Merck failed to warn users about. The most common of these alleged side effects include low libido and irreversible erectile dysfunction, i.e. even if the user stops taking the drug after experiencing a decline in sexual performance, he will not be back to normal again (unlike what Merck claims).

The latest “victim” is 26 year old James from Edinburgh, UK. He says that Propecia has left him completely impotent even after he stopped taking the pills.

There’s no doubt that Propecia works like magic at stopping hair loss – even James was impressed by its effectiveness – But, if he had to choose between his hair and manhood, what do you think he’d rather keep/lose?

Lately, Tesco, a UK-based supermarket chain, announced that they will start offering Viagra for sale over the counter for a competitive price of £52 per 8 tablets. Tesco’s in-store pharmacies will make this drug available for purchase without a prescription to men aged 40 to 65 years. Their pharmacy staff will ask consumers to fill a questionnaire about their health history and undergo basic medical tests to ensure that this medication is right for them and that it won’t pose any risks to their health.

Some have already criticized Tesco’s move arguing that it might promote drug abuse and put consumers’ health at risk.

Many retailers and even Viagra’s own maker, Pfizer, have repeatedly tried to find ways to make Viagra available to consumers without a prescription, i.e. over the counter, but so far none has been authorized to offer this drug freely to anyone who wants to buy it without a doctor’s advice/prescription.

So, we will keep waiting for a “completely” over the counter version of Viagra.

An interesting analysis published by the Annals of Internal Medicine found that men who use impotence treatments have higher rates of STDs, especially HIV infection. The study also stated that old men (over 40) are more likely to use ED medications and more likely to engage in unsafe sex practices, and that results in higher numbers of STDs in senior men.

Pfizer (the maker of Viagra), other ED drug manufacturers, doctors, and health care experts always emphasize that ED treatments do not treat or prevent STDs. ED patients who visit their doctor to get medical consultation or prescription are advised to discuss safe sex practices and protection against STDs with their doctor before starting to use the drugs.

Flibanserin was initially developed as an antidepressant, but in later studies it was fairly successful in treating Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD), which is characterized by the decrease or loss of sexual fantasies and desire in women for a period of time. Unlike Viagra, which treats erectile dysfunction in men by improving the man’s physical sexual ability, flibanserin works on the woman’s mind and improves her mood.

Watch the following CBS report for more information about HSDD and this new pill.

But don’t get too excited about this! An expert panel at the FDA has already voted against flibanserin. The following CBS video report has more about this decision.

That’s just another “female Viagra” pill (added to a few dozens more) that gets a ‘No’ from the FDA. There should definitely be more attempts by drug makers in the future to come up with a feminine Viagra counterpart, but will there ever be such a drug with its benefits outweighing its side effects? Let’s keep watching.

The seized medicines included Viagra, Levitra, and other sexual medications and supplements, which were found to be fake and illegally manufactured.

This is not the first, and most likely not the last, time that fake Viagra shipments and stocks get seized by authorities in different countries and ports around the world.

The pharmaceutical industry is very lucrative and active worldwide and that is a strong motive for drug counterfeiters to keep making and pushing their illegal copies of legitimate medications. Customs and health authorities in all countries always try their best to combat and stop fake medicines before they reach the end user, but it’s also the consumer’s responsibility to always talk to their doctor before buying or taking a new medicine, and to purchase the medicine from a reputable, certified drugstore.

This treatment was originally developed by Eli Lilly and Company (Cialis maker) to be used as an antidepressant. In 2003, Johnson & Johnson bought the patent from Lilly for $65M, and continued to develop the drug for the treatment of premature ejaculation.

Premature ejaculation, or rapid ejaculation, is a condition that affects many men who have poor control over their climax during intercourse, which results in early ejaculation and end of sexual urge for the male partner. Priligy gives hope to men suffering from PE and can help them enjoy long lasting action in bed.

Priligy is sold as 30mg and 60mg oral doses, priced at about £25 ($38) per tablet. The medication is available to men aged 18-64 who have a valid prescription from their doctor.

Men who suffer from low libido as a result of low testosterone levels will benefit from Axiron, which can boost their testosterone to a normal level and help them enjoy better sex drive and improved erectile function.

The drug was submitted by Lilly for FDA approval and global marketing authorization. If approved, Axiron will enter the highly competitive, $1 billion market of testosterone therapies.

About 40% of men aged 45 and older suffer from some degree of testosterone deficiency, which results in weakened sexual ability. This new medicine will add a new option for low testosterone patients who are usually prescribed rub-on gels, patches, or intramuscular injections.

Men who frequently masturbate to porn will become less responsive to “natural” sexual stimulation by their partners, and will need an external stimulant, like a Viagra pill, to help them get it up.

This condition seems to be reversible and can be cured “simply” by quitting porn. That may not be an easy step to take for most porn addicts since their brains are wired in a certain way that makes them more sexually responsive to porn/masturbation and less reactive to real women. That’s why men trying to recover from porn addiction usually get frustrated and many of them return to using porn after just a few days/weeks. However, if someone has real determination to continue the healing process by abstaining from porn for a certain period of time (could be weeks or months) then his brain will rewire and return to normal mode, i.e. being able to get it up and engage in satisfactory sexual intercourse with a real partner without the help of porn or medicines like Viagra.

Use the link above to read the full article for more details on this issue and some real stories of men who suffered from it.