Identification and quantitation of the ingredients in a counterfeit Vietnamese herbal medicine against rheumatic diseases

Counterfeit and/or illegally manufactured drugs and herbal medicines are becoming an increasing problem throughout the world. Internet sales simplify distribution and payment of these falsified drugs. Here we report on a Vietnamese herbal medicine, which was advertised for treatment of rheumatic disease from a religious Vietnamese healer. By means of NMR and LC/MS we found 863 mg acetaminophen, 262 mg sulfamethoxazole, 42 mg indomethacin and less than 1% trimethoprim in a sachet of 2.617g powder content, in addition to some cinnamon bark and phosphate. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.