BC shop fined $1M for selling 'natural' health products containing Cialis, Viagra

A Metro Vancouver adult store operator has been fined $1.07 million for selling sexual enhancement products advertised as natural but that actually contained prescription drugs.

Health Canada says MFH International Enterprise Inc. has also been ordered by a B.C. provincial court to stop selling natural health products for two years.

Court documents say MFH operated a chain of adult product stores in Vancouver, Richmond and Burnaby and received a Health Canada licence to sell a natural health product named "Harmony" in 2013.

The documents say an undercover Health Canada inspector bought Harmony from MFH's store in Burnaby in 2020, and tests found the capsules contained tadalafil — the active medical ingredient in Cialis, a prescription drug for erectile dysfunction.

Subsequent searches also turned up another product, Passion Fem, which had been recalled by Health Canada in 2019 for containing the undeclared ingredient of sildenafil, which is found in the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra.

The court ruling, released March 3, says the literature found on Harmony boxes said it was "herbal Viagra," containing "100 per cent natural extract," while Passion Fem was advertised as completely natural to help female libido, despite the actual drug inside being a male sexual enhancement drug that isn't approved for women.

"Following the product seizure in 2021, Health Canada suspended the natural health product licence for the Harmony product and issued a public advisory," a release from Health Canada says.

"Many people in Canada use natural health products as part of their daily routines. That is why it is important that they can trust the products that they use."

The provincial court ruing says MFH was seeking a lesser fine between $370,000 and $550,000, arguing that the company "has been struggling financially" and had to shutter two of its stores.

Judge Bonnie Craig says in her reasons for sentencing, however, that MFH's financial viability "does not appear to be as dire as that claimed" by the defence, noting that the company was able to buy out the lease on a Mercedes vehicle for more than $75,000 despite claiming a net loss in 2024.