10.17.07 - Second Arrest in Farmingdale Supplement Scheme
A second person has been arrested on charges involving
a dietary supplement that, though it helped boost male sexual
performance in many cases, was not exactly what was advertised,
according to officials.
The problem is that the the supplement, named Vigor-25,
was promoted as a natural herbal product. In fact, federal
officials said, it worked because the active ingredient
was not natural, rare Chinese herbs, but rather the generic
version of the chemical in Viagra, smuggled in from China.
Yvonne Zhang, 57, of Farmingdale was arraigned in U.S.
District Court in Central Islip yesterday on a charge of
introducing into "interstate commerce adulterated or
misbranded drugs," officials said.
According to court papers filed by Thomas Nasiatka, a criminal
investigator with the federal Food and Drug Administration,
Zhang was head of Greenvalley, a company at 165A Marine
St., Farmingdale, that manufactured Vigor-25 by combining
herbs with a generic version of Viagra or similar compounds.
Zhang was not required to enter a plea, pending further
hearings. Her attorney, Joseph Conway of Garden City, declined
to comment, as did Nicole Boeckmann, the assistant U.S.
attorney prosecuting the case, and Robert Nardoza, the chief
spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern
District.
In September, Michael Peng, 55, of Flushing, the president
of V. Vigor Corp., the Farmingdale company that marketed
Vigor-25 to health food stores and small stores in ethnic
neighborhoods, was arrested on similar charges. He was released
on $50,000 bail; his case is pending.
Zhang was released on $25,000 bail by U.S. Magistrate E.
Thomas Boyle. Both Zhang and Peng face up to three years
in prison if convicted.
The label of the popular Vigor-25 said it was effective
because it contained natural ingredients such as rhodiola
rhizome, Chinese yam, cnidium fruit or cassia, officials
said.
In the court papers, FDA agent Nasiatka wrote the government
was concerned because people with heart conditions might
take the substance unaware that its contents could put them
as risk. "A consumer who uses Vigor-25 would not know
that these undeclared ingredients may interact with prescription
drugs that contain nitrates, such as nitroglycerin, and
would lower blood pressure to dangerous levels," court
papers said.
- Robert Kessler:
Newsday Staff Writer
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