HOUSTON – A lawsuit filed Monday claims that 15 gas stations in the Houston area are selling “male enhancement” pills that contain undisclosed drugs including Viagra.
The suit filed in Houston federal court accuses the companies that own the gas stations of selling pills that are billed as sexual enhancement supplements, which lab tests have found actually contain drugs such as sildenafil, desmethyl carbodenafil, dapoxetine and tadalafil.
“This is an effort to police those people that we're able to find for sure who are part of this,” said attorney Robert Tauler.
Consumers may recognize these drugs by their brand names -- Viagra, Priligy, Westoxetin and Cialis.
“Our independent testing has demonstrated it contains Viagra as well,” Tauler said.
Tauler said this is a dangerous practice since the drug that is in Viagra can only be prescribed by a doctor and comes with potential side effects, including heart attack.
According to the lawsuit, the products are sold under the “Rhino” name, and the stores sell the products using false statements like “all natural,” “no harmful synthetic chemicals” and “no prescription necessary.”
“We have been unable to identify an actual Rhino company that makes these,” Tauler said. “How the name arose is a mystery; we know that multiple people simply use the same packaging because everyone knows of the Rhino brand.”
Tauler’s firm encountered similar problems with finding wholesalers and distributors that sell to stores.
The stores are widely scattered across the Houston area.
“There are businesses and wholesalers and distributors that simply don't exist on paper,” Tauler said.
KPRC2 could not immediately reach owners of each of the gas stations for comment about the lawsuit. However, one gas station clerk sent a phone call from reporter Robert Arnold to his boss. The boss said he pulled the products off the shelf because he didn’t want to take any chances.