A chain of adult stores in Burnaby, Richmond and Vancouver has been slapped with a fine of $1.07 million for fraudulently advertising and selling prescription sex enhancement drugs as natural health products.
Recommended Videos
MFH International Enterprise Inc., which operates as Male & Female Harmony, was found guilty earlier this week on three charges under the federal Food and Drugs Act. The fines were issued after the company repeatedly ignored Health Canada’s warnings to stop selling the products.
In 2021, Health Canada launched an investigation and seized the drugs, named “Harmony” and “Passion Fem”, from the company’s retail shops. An investigation and further testing found that the products contained high levels of tadalafil and sildenafil, prescription drugs used for treating erectile dysfunction.
Both were being sold without prescriptions under the guise of being natural health products, and the product labels did not disclose that the product contained prescription drugs.
“Selling or advertising natural health products that contain prescription drugs is illegal in Canada,” read a news release announcing the penalties. “Health Canada takes this matter very seriously and uses all tools at its disposal to protect the health and safety of the people of Canada.”
The company had already been in hot water in 2019, after Health Canada suspended its natural health product licence for the Passion Fem product in a separate investigation. Following the 2021 investigation, the company also lost its natural health product licence for the Harmony product.