South Korea: Sex drug stimulates black market
Friday May 8 1998 South China Morning Post
JOHN LARKIN in Seoul
The sexual potency drug Viagra has won over the
nation's virility-conscious men, with black-market
pills smuggled through Customs selling for 28,000
won (HK$170) each - more than double the
normal price.
Even men not suffering from impotence are
snapping up the drug - which has still to be cleared
in clinical tests by the country's Food and Drug
Administration.
The drug has caused such a sensation that its
manufacturer, Pfizer, issued a statement through its
local office warning that "Viagra is not an
aphrodisiac, but a medicine for treatment of patients
with serious erectile dysfunction".
Viagra boosts blood flow to the genitals, helping
produce an erection in men. It has proven
immensely popular in the United States since it went
on sale there on April 15.
Koreans returning from abroad have been caught
smuggling Viagra disguised as vitamin pills and
dietary supplements. In one week last month, post
offices confiscated 40 bottles from overseas, but
many more are slipping through the net.
Last month, Customs put its foot down, restricting
tourists to one bottle of Viagra pills per person. It
also slapped an 80,000 won tax on each bottle.
In addition, everyone bringing a bottle into the
country must sign a document prohibiting its resale.
But the measures have failed to stop Viagra
becoming the hottest drug in town. Doctors
complain of people constantly urging them to make
out false prescriptions.
"It's a cultural thing," said a spokesman for Pfizer
Korea. "Korean men have always been deeply
interested in their sexual virility."
They will have to wait at least until next year before
the drug is legally cleared. Clinical trials will not
start until late this year.
The government doctor overseeing Viagra's
registration application said the drug had to be
properly understood. "It is useless for people
without sexual problems," said Dr Kim
Young-chan. |
