Over-the-Counter Male Product Pulled from Store Shelves

Health Commissioner Julia Sheen is urging residents to discontinue the use of VIM-25, a product being sold mostly at convenience stores territorywide as an herbal supplement, because it contains an active ingredient that must be prescribed by a physician.

“This product should not be sold over the counter and residents who are in possession should discard it immediately,” Sheen said. “We are also asking retailers to cease sales of this product.”

Deputy Commissioner Dr. Eugene Tull said that the Department of Health learned Friday that VIM-25 contains Tadalafil, the active ingredient of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug Cialis, which is commonly prescribed for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.

Tull, who is also the Department’s Epidemiologist, said that packages of VIM-25 are being removed from store shelves by the Department’s Environmental Health officers. Routine visits at stores will be conducted to ensure that store owners are adhering to the notice to cease such sales, he said.

VIM-25, which originates from the Hong Kong-based company Wanyun Int’l Logistics, is sold as a single dose pill in a pink and purple package. The pill itself is purple and written in yellow on the package are the words: herbal supplement and male enhancement.

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