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Probono · 08-15-2003, 07:04 AM

Seekers of manhood in a bottle could be gulping down E. coli
By Julia Angwin
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

NANAIMO, British Columbia - On the main street of this former coal-mining town is the headquarters of Performance Marketing Ltd., one of the world's purveyors of so-called penis-enlargement pills.

Once relegated to the back pages of dirty magazines, Performance Marketing and its rivals - with help from e-mail marketing partners - are now among the pushiest of all pill pushers.

But don't bank on the promised "3 inches." There is no scientific evidence that any pill can enlarge the penis, says Franklin C. Lowe, professor of clinical urology at Columbia University.

"If it were legitimate," he says, "I'd be a billionaire."

What some customers might get from Performance Marketing's pills is a less-than-sexy dose of bacteria and other contaminants. Commissioned by The Wall Street Journal, Flora Research of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., conducted an independent laboratory analysis of a composite sample of 10 Performance Marketing pills and turned up significant levels of E. coli, yeast, mold, lead and pesticide residues.

The amount of E. coli bacteria - 16,300 colony-forming units per gram - appears to be particularly high, experts say.

"I think it's safe to say it has heavy fecal contamination," said Dr. Michael Donnenberg, head of the infectious-diseases department at the University of Maryland. Although E. coli won't necessarily make you sick, Donnenberg says fecal matter, which might have come from animals grazing near herbal ingredients harvested for the pills, is prime breeding ground for all sorts of viruses, parasites and bacteria.

When presented with the test results, the company said it would investigate the quality of the pills provided by its third-party manufacturer.

Performance Marketing President Kevin Atkinson said, "Performance Marketing is dedicated to ensuring only the highest quality."

Many buyers of Performance Marketing's pills are in the United States, where the Food and Drug Administration doesn't regulate such supplements. Canada, which requires that any product making health claims must be approved by the government, hasn't approved sales of the pills.

In March, Canadian authorities blocked Performance Marketing from receiving a shipment of product until it removed all claims regarding sexual impotence from its Web site. Once the company complied, the shipment was allowed to go through, said Krista Apse, spokeswoman for the national health department.

Performance Marketing, which markets its pills on its Web site Americas-Drugstore.
com and distributes its pills through a subsidiary called American Pharma, has grown to 25 employees from just one in the past year and a half, and employees work in shifts shipping out bottles of pills around the clock.

"Before we got started four years ago, I thought the Internet was over," says the company's 32-year-old founder, Duane Gartman. "Now I realize it's just the beginning. ? I think this is a gold rush, and I want to stake my land."

The company was incorporated in 1999, and for 2000 it reported sales of $311,000 at current exchange rates, according to records kept by Dun & Bradstreet. Gartman declined to comment on current sales figures.

The Optimum pills are advertised as containing herbs such as ginkgo biloba, Korean red ginseng and saw palmetto. "Optimum penis enlargement products are a 100 percent safe and natural penis enlargement pill that is guaranteed to increase penis size by an average of 28 percent," the Web site proclaims.

The Journal's independent analysis concluded that the capsules did contain ginkgo and ginseng. (In the proper doses, both can increase blood flow to the penis to help treat impotence, said Mark Blumenthal, executive director of the American Botanical Council.) The results on saw palmetto were inconclusive. However, the analysis also revealed the presence of bacteria, heavy metals and pesticide residues.

The pills far exceed suggested limits set by ConsumerLab.com LLC, an independent rating agency for the nutritional-supplement industry, for coliform, a type of bacteria that can indicate contamination from water or feces.

"You'd probably be spending more time in the bathroom than the bedroom with this product," says Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com. Yeast and mold counts also exceeded
ConsumerLab.com's limits.

The amount of lead in a daily dose of three Optimum pills surpassed the limit set by California's strict labeling laws for "chemicals causing reproductive toxicity."

08-15-2003, 07:04 AM
Probono Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Under the Rainbow Posts: 2,731	Penis Pills a health hazard? Seekers of manhood in a bottle could be gulping down E. coli By Julia Angwin THE WALL STREET JOURNAL NANAIMO, British Columbia - On the main street of this former coal-mining town is the headquarters of Performance Marketing Ltd., one of the world's purveyors of so-called penis-enlargement pills. Once relegated to the back pages of dirty magazines, Performance Marketing and its rivals - with help from e-mail marketing partners - are now among the pushiest of all pill pushers. But don't bank on the promised "3 inches." There is no scientific evidence that any pill can enlarge the penis, says Franklin C. Lowe, professor of clinical urology at Columbia University. "If it were legitimate," he says, "I'd be a billionaire." What some customers might get from Performance Marketing's pills is a less-than-sexy dose of bacteria and other contaminants. Commissioned by The Wall Street Journal, Flora Research of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., conducted an independent laboratory analysis of a composite sample of 10 Performance Marketing pills and turned up significant levels of E. coli, yeast, mold, lead and pesticide residues. The amount of E. coli bacteria - 16,300 colony-forming units per gram - appears to be particularly high, experts say. "I think it's safe to say it has heavy fecal contamination," said Dr. Michael Donnenberg, head of the infectious-diseases department at the University of Maryland. Although E. coli won't necessarily make you sick, Donnenberg says fecal matter, which might have come from animals grazing near herbal ingredients harvested for the pills, is prime breeding ground for all sorts of viruses, parasites and bacteria. When presented with the test results, the company said it would investigate the quality of the pills provided by its third-party manufacturer. Performance Marketing President Kevin Atkinson said, "Performance Marketing is dedicated to ensuring only the highest quality." Many buyers of Performance Marketing's pills are in the United States, where the Food and Drug Administration doesn't regulate such supplements. Canada, which requires that any product making health claims must be approved by the government, hasn't approved sales of the pills. In March, Canadian authorities blocked Performance Marketing from receiving a shipment of product until it removed all claims regarding sexual impotence from its Web site. Once the company complied, the shipment was allowed to go through, said Krista Apse, spokeswoman for the national health department. Performance Marketing, which markets its pills on its Web site Americas-Drugstore. com and distributes its pills through a subsidiary called American Pharma, has grown to 25 employees from just one in the past year and a half, and employees work in shifts shipping out bottles of pills around the clock. "Before we got started four years ago, I thought the Internet was over," says the company's 32-year-old founder, Duane Gartman. "Now I realize it's just the beginning. ? I think this is a gold rush, and I want to stake my land." The company was incorporated in 1999, and for 2000 it reported sales of $311,000 at current exchange rates, according to records kept by Dun & Bradstreet. Gartman declined to comment on current sales figures. The Optimum pills are advertised as containing herbs such as ginkgo biloba, Korean red ginseng and saw palmetto. "Optimum penis enlargement products are a 100 percent safe and natural penis enlargement pill that is guaranteed to increase penis size by an average of 28 percent," the Web site proclaims. The Journal's independent analysis concluded that the capsules did contain ginkgo and ginseng. (In the proper doses, both can increase blood flow to the penis to help treat impotence, said Mark Blumenthal, executive director of the American Botanical Council.) The results on saw palmetto were inconclusive. However, the analysis also revealed the presence of bacteria, heavy metals and pesticide residues. The pills far exceed suggested limits set by ConsumerLab.com LLC, an independent rating agency for the nutritional-supplement industry, for coliform, a type of bacteria that can indicate contamination from water or feces. "You'd probably be spending more time in the bathroom than the bedroom with this product," says Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com. Yeast and mold counts also exceeded ConsumerLab.com's limits. The amount of lead in a daily dose of three Optimum pills surpassed the limit set by California's strict labeling laws for "chemicals causing reproductive toxicity."