An Australian man suffered a severe reaction to fake Cialis tablets, the Medical Journal of Australia reports this month.

The 52 year-old was admitted to hospital with slurred speech, confusion and profuse sweating. He was suffering from severe hypoglycemia, a condition where the body lacks glucose. In extreme cases this can cause seizures and unconsciousness, and it has even been known to cause death.

The case highlights the dangers of buying medications from unknown or un-reputable sources. Impotence treatments such as Cialis have become a popular target for illicit drug merchants, who often supply people with fake tablets. These tablets can contain all sorts of ingredients and in some cases, these ingredients are harmful.

Earlier this year, officials in New Zealand publicised the ingredients they had found contained in fake Viagra that they had seized at the country’s border. The contents included ingredients as unsavoury as bat and bird droppings, and sawdust. A famous British television advert, warning people about the dangers of illegal medicines, showed a man pulling a rat from his mouth. It was implied that he had taken counterfeit pills. Indeed impotence tablets have been found to have contained this unsavoury (not to mention highly toxic) substance. Unfortunately criminals across the world are profiting from these pills. Recent police raids in Israel and Montreal have seen huge warehouses full of millions of pounds of fake Viagra discovered by police.

The moral of the story in all of these cases is to buy drugs from trustworthy sources. Obtaining prescription drugs from a doctor, following a consultation, is clearly the first port of call for most people. If you buy online, be sure to purchase drugs from a website that is registered with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.