that the product is safe, and one cites a brief quotation from a newspaper article that says "while as early as 1973 Elmer Gardner of the FDA's Bureau of Drugs stated 'There is no safety problem with Gerovital H-3.'" Effectiveness There is no evidence that Gerovital is helpful in slowing aging or treating illness. Drug or nutrient? Procaine itself is often considered to be a drug. Earlier references by advocates of Gerovital H3 refer to it as a drug. Hoffer and Walker (1980) call it a "youth drug." Mircea Dumitru, Aslan's colleague and personal physician, describes it as "a complex drug acting like the procaine molecule ... The addition of benzoic acid, potassium and disodium phosphate increase the effects of Gerovital-H3 biotrophic treatment." FDA ban , the FDA's 1982 automatic detention alert is still in effect and bans the import of Gerovital H3 into the U.S. as "a new drug within the meaning of 201(p), without an approved new drug application [Unapproved New Drug, Section 505(a)]." The ban covers: Gerovital, GH3, KH3, Zell H3, GH3 etc. This order was rescinded for GEROVITAL Cosmetics Lines, not containing procaine. finished injectable or oral Procaine Hydrochloride References Ageing Alternative medicine Health fraud Withdrawn drugs Patent medicines Anti-aging substances Romanian inventions