Artri King: FDA-Warned Pain Supplement Risks in San Francisco Latino Community

Artri King, a pain supplement marketed to Latinos in San Francisco, contains hidden pharmaceuticals. Despite FDA warnings, it's still readily available, posing serious health risks due to undisclosed ingredients.

On a go through the Objective Area, El Tecolote found 12 little stores, including a Latino drug store, that offered Artri King or close derivatives. A lot of were along 2 of the area’s business hallways: Objective Street and 24th Road. Commonly, the container was shown near low-grade discomfort medicine like Tylenol or alongside other supplements promoted as natural remedies. They retailed for $20 to $40 a box.

People look for fruit and vegetables outside of among the few stores around Mission Street that markets a supplement that the Fda has actually advised against individuals taking in, in San Francisco, Calif., on Sept. 17, 2025. Photo: Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Resident

Artri King’s Prevalence and Risks

After getting FDA alerting letters in 2022, big retailers like Walmart and Amazon issued voluntary recalls, drawing Artri Ajo King and Artri King from their racks. The supplements are currently on the FDA’s “red listing” of import notifies and Customs and Boundary Protection (CBP) has likewise taken shipments of Artri King at U.S. ports of entry. In San Francisco shops providing to Latin American, Spanish-speaking consumers, the supplement is readily easily accessible and still preferred.

The supplements’ labels, written completely in Spanish, claim the item is made in Mexico, and list ingredients like Vitamin C and collagen. FDA lab evaluations have actually discovered they additionally include powerful hidden medicines like dexamethasone, methocarbamol and diclofenac, which are utilized to deal with a number of wellness conditions, but need a medical professional’s prescription to stay clear of extreme side results.

Caballero’s bruises were brought on by thinned skin, a trademark of Cushing’s syndrome. Blood examinations revealed her natural cortisol levels neared absolutely no. Another client of Leiner’s, that had just taken the pills for 3 months, likewise showed amazingly low cortisol levels.

“If you bring [[] usage ] down as well swiftly, the body is not going to be able to produce its own [[ cortisol] ] in the event of a major injury,” stated Leiner. “If these patients were to have had a poor high temperature or a significant auto accident, they ‘d go into shock and they might die.”

Hidden Ingredients and Health Dangers

In San Francisco, a growing number of Latinos who function literally requiring work are transforming to supplements like Artri Ajo King and related supplements, such as Artri King, AK Strength and Ortiga Ajo Rey to soothe persistent pain. The supplements are marketed as natural solutions for pain relief. But there’s a dark side to the tablets that has medical professionals in the city worried. They include surprise pharmaceuticals that can result in significant clinical problems, consisting of liver toxicity and death. Quitting them suddenly can additionally be really hazardous. And though the Fda (FDA) has actually asked individuals to prevent them, the message of their damages does not seem to be making clear to Spanish talking immigrants, or to the many small businesses in the Mission Area that accommodate them.

Pills of a supplement the Food and Drug Administration has actually warned against are seen in San Francisco, Calif., on Sept. 29, 2025. The product, offered under names such as “Artri King,” is commonly used by Latinos for bone discomfort, yet doctors say it can create hormone dysfunction and get worse diabetes mellitus. Photo: Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Local

“The difficult component is, patients really feel much better because the high-dose steroids deal with joint inflammation discomfort,” said Elizabeth Murphy, chief of the Endocrinology and Metabolism Division at the San Francisco General Healthcare Facility. “The problem is, it’s simply not a risk-free treatment for joint pain.

Patient Experiences and Concerns

In some cases, she claimed, individuals are referred to her since the concealed steroids have actually interrupted their hormone production, triggering them to develop extreme osteoporosis and busted bones– Murphy stated she’s had clients who had to have both hips changed. Others gain weight, develop diabetes mellitus, or reveal other signs of Cushing’s disorder, which is commonly brought on by rare lumps in the adrenal glands, but can likewise be caused by steroid usage.

When Gloria Caballero, 52, started experiencing knee pain four years earlier, her sis in Los Angeles recommended an all-natural remedy that a colleague had actually spoken highly of: a supplement called Artri King. Following her suggestions, Gloria started acquiring the yellow-and-blue pills in Los Angeles and bringing them up to her home in San Francisco, where she started taking them twice a day, daily.

Boxes of ‘Artri Ajo King,’ a supplement that the Food and Drug Administration has actually warned against people taking in, remains on the leading shelf inside a local produce shop on Goal, in San Francisco, Calif., on Sept. 17, 2025. Photo: Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Citizen

These hormonal imbalances caused by Artri Ajo King also make complex people’s capacity to quit taking the supplement safely. Long-lasting usage closes down the body’s natural production of cortisol, Leiner clarified, so individuals require to call their medical company to be successfully discouraged off the medicine. Depending on how much time a person has been taking the supplements, the process “may take years.”

“A lot of the symptoms would be refined,” stated Leiner, that functions at the Goal Area Health And Wellness Facility (MNHC). She had bruises on her skin.

Leiner, the nurse practitioner that dealt with Caballero, said it’s tough for physicians to recognize Artri Ajo King usage because individuals will not feel negative taking them till “something significant happens,” like an infection that pushes them right into shock, or a damaged bone that exposes osteoporosis.

The adjustment, Caballero said, was remarkable. She could stroll without pain once more. Amid the stress of juggling numerous gigs to pay for San Francisco’s high rental fee, the house cleanser didn’t believe much of her signs and symptoms.

During a regular examination this May at a community facility, her nurse specialist asked regarding what medications and supplements she was taking, and she pointed out Artri Ajo King. When he looked up the supplement online, he told her she would certainly have to stop.

Still, though experts have had the ability to catch situations previously on, she claimed, use Artri Ajo King in San Francisco’s Latino neighborhood has actually boosted, mirroring clinical records of their rising appeal in the U.S. In the last six months alone, Murphy stated she saw three clients with issues derived from Artri Ajo King use in the city. She presumes there are much more individuals with symptoms that haven’t been linked to the supplement.

A box of ‘Artri Ajo King,’ a supplement that the Fda has actually cautioned against individuals eating, rests at the counter inside a local fruit and vegetables shop on Goal, in San Francisco, Calif., on Sept. 17, 2025. Picture: Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Citizen

El Tecolote acquired two boxes at a little supermarket concentrating on Latin American items. Inside each box was a QR code to a Google Drive PDF claiming to “confirm” the item. The outside label instructed customers to take two tablets, three times a day, never mentioning the surprise steroids. In italics, one line read:

El Tecolote connected to the San Francisco Division of Public Health (SFDPH). Though they acknowledged they had received our query, they did not reply to concerns concerning whether they knew the sale of Artri King in the city.

The Mexican housekeeper has actually been taking the tablets since May, however talking with El Tecolote was the very first time she learned about the prospective negative effects. She asked yourself if her recent loss of hair was connected to it. Chely claimed she intended on considering the supplements much more to choose whether she would certainly keep taking them or otherwise, however didn’t rely on a physician would give her a sincere solution.

There’s likewise the reality that, as Cohen noted in one of his studies, tiny stores might be “legitimizing these items” by remaining to market them, “supplying an incorrect sense of security to potential customers.”

Artri Ajo King has no official internet site, and Mexican medical professionals have alerted that it is made in “hidden research laboratories” and is “not regulated at the local degree,” with “chameleon-like” markets that are efficient escaping public wellness policies. Its tag states it is made in Mexico, the box doesn’t offer any contact details for the supplement’s expected manufacturer, noting just an address in a household neighborhood in Mexico City.

Mayra Moreno-Arnaiz, a senior health educator at MNHC, echoed that worry. She claimed several clients presume the pills are “all-natural” or similar to traditional remedies passed down in Latino family members. In truth, they are unregulated and factory-made.

When she first began taking Artri King, she said, the result she felt was so extreme that she made a decision to decrease her dosage to one pill per day. The pills help her treat consistent pain in the soles of her feet that she’s had given that a fall two years back.

Managers and clerks claimed they were uninformed of the FDA cautions and the influence of the concealed components. They were hesitant of the item’s damage, and said that Artri King was just among numerous medications they received wholesale from their providers.

One shop manager said he gives the supplement to his mother, and takes it himself sometimes. At one more store, a staff stated she started utilizing the pills after customers suggested them. She reported marketing 3 to four boxes a day. Often, a solitary customer gets the whole stock.

Clerks in a number of shops stated that the supplements were preferred amongst older Latino males and females looking for discomfort alleviation, who had actually found out about it with word-of-mouth suggestions. At the shops, consumers do not need a prescription to buy the supplement.

At Objective Road’s Milagros de México, a large organic store focusing on Latin American supplements, pharmacy worker Consuelo Hernández claimed they quit marketing Artri King after the FDA released cautions. When customers ask for it, she guides them towards the shop’s various other pain-relief products, consisting of by-products with similar branding.

FDA’s Limited Regulatory Power

To her, Artri Ajo King resembles every other medicine: it’s “truly excellent,” yet damaging in high dosages. In the years that she took it, she stressed, it made a difference in her quality of life. She remembers them warmly.

Four months after giving up Artri King, Caballero is taking advil and other lower-grade pain drugs recommended for her joint inflammation. The side effects from the supplement have actually subsided, she said, however her knee pain is back– and disabling.

Due to the fact that items like Artri Ajo King are marketed as supplements, and not medicines, the FDA can not manage their components prior to they struck the market. Instead, the labeling duties fall on the maker. The FDA just steps in to examine and remember items after they receive multiple reports of harm.

Her physician has recognized that, preventing surgery, there actually is no cure to the pain she feels. It’s something she’ll most likely have to cope with for the rest of her life. Gloria admits she still has Arti Ajo King pills in her residence.

Cohen, who has actually studied just how similar supplements effect Boston’s Brazilian community, stated FDA cautions hardly ever transform consumer actions, particularly amongst lower-income, immigrant populaces that may not understand about or recognize them.

Although he regularly recommends nutrients supplements to his people, Cohen suggests them to stay clear of ones that claim to supply pain relief, considering that they typically contain “powerful prescription drugs.” Any supplement that gives prompt outcomes, he added, most likely consists of something past legal components.

Challenges in Communicating Risks

‘ Ortiga Ajo Rey,’ a supplement that the Fda has actually alerted versus individuals consuming, sits at the counter inside a neighborhood fruit and vegetables store on Goal, in San Francisco, Calif., on Sept. 17, 2025. Image: Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Resident

Moreno-Arnaiz made leaflets advising clients of the risks, now posted in the clinic. Getting the message throughout has actually verified to be difficult. Some people do not decide and rely on the medical system to self-medicate their persistent discomfort. Long haul times for clinical consultations may prevent individuals that do have Medi-Cal from seeking assistance for much less significant conditions.

2 boxes of ‘Artri Ajo King,’ a supplement that the Food and Drug Administration has actually alerted against individuals taking in, sits at the counter inside a local produce store on Mission, in San Francisco, Calif., on Sept. 17, 2025. Image: Pablo Unzueta for El Tecolote/CatchLight Resident

The pharmacologist told her to readjust the dosage to whatever really felt comfy when she brought it to the counter. Later, she sought the guidance of good friends, and also a nurse in her Mexican hometown. They all claimed it would assist.

During a regular examination this May at an area clinic, her nurse professional asked about what supplements and medicines she was taking, and she pointed out Artri Ajo King. In San Francisco, a growing number of Latinos who work literally demanding work are transforming to supplements like Artri Ajo King and relevant supplements, such as Artri King, AK Forte and Ortiga Ajo Rey to ease persistent pain. These hormonal discrepancies caused by Artri Ajo King also make complex individuals’s capacity to stop taking the supplement safely. The supplements are currently on the FDA’s “red listing” of import notifies and Traditions and Boundary Security (CBP) has actually likewise confiscated deliveries of Artri King at U.S. ports of entrance. Since items like Artri Ajo King are marketed as supplements, and not medicines, the FDA can not manage their ingredients prior to they struck the market.

San Francisco Superior Court Eric Fleming has actually revealed a sentence of 31 years in prison, adhered to by two successive life sentences for Keonte Gathron, founded guilty of the murder of Chinese grandmother Yik Oi Huang.

Chely said she first discovered the supplement at Farmacia Internacional on Goal Street, looking for something that could assist her alleviate her pain. Walking through the aisles, a dark blue and yellow box captured her eye. It had an image of component of a skeleton’s hands, with beaming orange orbs around the joints.