Products seized from Calgary health store include banned drugs, veterinary medicine

Health Canada says it's tested two unauthorized products seized from a Chinese herbal shop in Calgary and found they contain prescription drugs that cannot be sold in Canada, that were unlisted on the product labels.

Health Canada said it seized a number of health products on Sunday fromSunrise Lee Chinese Herbs Centre, located in Pacific Place Mall in northeast Calgary

The products, which include sexual enhancement capsules, cold and flu tablets, diet drugs and creams for skin conditions, were labelled, primarily in Chinese and not English,as containing prescription drugs and drugs that are banned in Canada.

On Wednesday, Health Canada said it had tested two additional seized products Slim 30 Ultra and Sugar Balancer and found that they also contained a banned drug and a prescription drug, neither of which were marked on the products' labels.

Drugs linked to risk of heart attack, liver damage

Slim 30 Ultra contained sibutramine, an obesity drug that's not allowed to be sold in Canada because it can cause increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

Sugar Balancer contained repaglinide, a prescription drug that decreases blood sugar in people with Type 2 diabetes, which could be serious for patients who have Type 1 diabetes, do not have diabetes, are elderly, have liver disease or skip meals, and can cause interactions with other drugs.

"Unauthorized health products have not been approved by Health Canada, which means that they have not been assessed for safety, effectiveness and quality, and may pose serious health risks," the agency said, adding that selling unauthorized health products in Canada is illegal.

Other products seized include:

• Compound diclofenac sodium and chlorphenamine maleate tablets, which containa prescription drug that increases risk of serious heart-related events, kidney disease and serious liver disease.
• Dexamethasone acetate cream,which contains an unapproved prescription drug that can cause side effects when absorbed through the skin.
• Fluocinonide cream,which contains a prescription drug that can cause side effects.
• I-Ching-Sung diacetyldiphenolisatin 5 mg tablets, which contains a drug banned in Canada because it can cause serious liver damage.
• Yansuan Jinmeisu Yangao, which contains a veterinary prescription drug not approved for human use in Canada.
• Yohimbe XV, which contains a prescription drug that can cause serious adverse reactions.

Health Canada is asking anyone who used any of the products above to stop using them and contact their doctors.

Many of the drugs are considered unsafe for children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with certain pre-existing conditions.

The agency also said customers should read labels to verify that drugs have been authorized to be sold. Authorized drugs should have an eight-digit Drug Identification Number.