Viralis RX – A True Downer

Note to Reader: The “health” webpage referenced in the ad alert below cycles through at least three different supplements – Viralis RX, Zederex and Test-O – though everything else on the page appears to remain essentially the same. Below is our ad alert for Viralis RX. Very similar ad alerts for Zederex and Test-O can be found here and here.

A “health” webpage containing the headline “$4.95 Pill That Kills Erectile Dysfunction Gets Biggest Deal In Shark Tank History” was recently flagged by a consumer, who was incredulous: “No way NY Times, Today, Oprah, etc. much less Shark Tank endorsed an ED ‘miracle’ Pill.” No way indeed. The health page is the quintessential example of fake news. And unless you’re willing to be automatically enrolled in a Recurring offers or subscriptions that continue to bill you until you take steps to shut down the account. These types of offers put the onus on the consumer to remember and to take action, allowing a company to keep gathering in cash from forgetful or busy customers. Be wary of these types of offers, and remember to stop services you no longer want. that will cost you $94.90 each and every month for a supplement making dubious health claims, among other things, it might be best to stay clear of this Viralis RX offer.

For starters, the story of how brothers Christopher and Michael Williams “were the first contestants in Shark Tank history to receive investment offers from all six panel members” for their “miracle product” – Viralis RX – is a complete fabrication. The physicians appearing on the website are brothers, whose real names are Richard and Albert Amini, and they did make a pitch on Shark Tank in 2013, but it was for an app called RoloDoc, which Mark Cuban dubbed the “worst presentation ever.”

As for Viralis RX being seen in the New York Times, that doesn’t appear to be true either. Testimonials at the bottom of the “Health” page are stuck in a time warp with the top entry always posted “12 minutes ago” and the last comment always posted “2 hours ago.” Then there’s the testimonial photos – they are not authentic.

Click on any link on this “health” page and you are taken to another URL – a landing page to order Viralis RX – which contains more misleading and deceptive statements.

The order page claims that Viralis RX is “Made in the USA” but as the pills are said to contain Tongkat Ali extract (which is misspelled on the website by the way) and Horney Goat Weed extract, it’s a dubious origin claim. The former tree is only found in southeast Asia, and the latter plant primarily in China with smaller amounts found elsewhere in Asia and the Mediterranean. Speaking of ingredients, Boron is also touted on the order page as an ingredient in Viralis RX but according to yet another website that sells the product, there is no Boron in the supplement.

Regardless of the ingredients, the disease-treatment claims being made on these websites, such as “Pill That Kills Erectile Dysfunction” and “Viralis RX’s dual action formula not only gives you an instant surge in sexual power & performance – but also treats the root cause of sexual dysfunctions” clearly violate both FTC and FDA law. Marketing a supplement as having the ability to treat, cure, alleviate the symptoms of, or prevent developing a disease is simply not permitted by law without competent and reliable scientific evidence to back it up, which Viralis RX doesn’t have. And if a supplement really could do all that, then it would be a drug subject to rigorous study and testing to gain FDA approval.

To add insult to injury, there is absolutely no free trial offer available despite representations to the contrary on the websites. In addition to the $4.95 that consumers have to pay for shipping, the terms and conditions on the Viralis RX site, which total almost 3,000 words, state that consumers only have 14 days from the day they first order the product to call the company and begin the return process for the supplement. If a consumer fails to do so or misses the 14-day deadline, the company will charge the consumer’s credit card $89.95 for that free trial offer and a recurring fee of $94.90 each month for a new shipment of Viralis RX. Now that’s a downer.

For more of TINA.org’s coverage of ED supplements, click here.