A Ray of Hope?
Top Stories: *Exclusive* Two Boston-Area Patients Thought to Be on Viagra Suffer Heart Attacks
By Jesse Eisinger
Staff Reporter
6/3/98 6:12 PM ET
SAN DIEGO -- Two patients thought to be taking Viagra suffered massive heart attacks in the last four days and one of them died at Massachusetts General in Boston, according to a cardiologist from the hospital.
So far, the Food and Drug Administration has confirmed it received reports that six patients on Viagra died, but only four of those patients are known to have taken the blockbuster Pfizer (PFE:NYSE) impotence pill. The Wall Street Journal Monday reported a seventh purported Viagra-linked death.
Investors and analysts have not been overly concerned about deaths on Viagra and expect that the media will make a bigger deal about them than is warranted. Certainly, here at the American Urological Association meeting, Viagra fervor has been undiminished amid the occasional reports of deaths and ocular side effects.
"The press will go to town; I'm not sure it's worth it," says Steve Tighe of Merrill Lynch, who recommends Pfizer stock. He had not heard about the recent cases, but said, "The question is, is there something unique about the cases? My guess is that sex caused the heart attacks. Is it Viagra or is it the guy having a heart attack?"
Tighe, pointing out that the risk of suffering a heart attack is 2.5 times higher in people having sex, said there are probably more deaths than have been reported. More than a million men in the U.S. have taken the drug, and false reports as well as verifiable ones will inevitably crop up when hype is as thick as it has been. Analysts who expect Pfizer shares to weaken as prescriptions slow and reports of deaths emerge call such talk an opportunity to buy shares of the drug company, which arguably has the premier emerging pipeline in the industry.
Prescriptions for Viagra have slowed from their early torrid pace in recent weeks as the euphoria for the drug starts to wear off and the real demand becomes more clear. It isn't clear what impact, if any, the recent reports of deaths have had on the market. In the week ending May 22, there were 236,625 new scrips and 282,597 total written, compared with 262,566 new and 296,666 total the previous week, according to Merrill Lynch.
Neither of the Mass General cases has been reported in the media. The doctor said that the hospital reported the deaths to the FDA and to Pfizer. A spokeswoman for the FDA said, "I heard about it yesterday. There's no way we can confirm it. So far, we've only been able to discuss six cases." Pfizer spokesman Andy McCormick said he had received media calls about the cases, but couldn't confirm whether the reports were true. "If we had it, we'd confirm it. We can't confirm based on what we know," he said.
The patient who died was a 57-year-old obstetrician-gynecologist who worked at Boston's Beth Israel hospital, according to the Mass General doctor, who cited hospital policy in requesting anonymity. The doctor said that patient came into the emergency room early Sunday morning complaining of chest pains and was dead within an hour. It isn't clear whether the man had been given nitrates in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, but doctors determined that he had taken Viagra that night. The combination of Viagra and nitrates, a blood-pressure reducer, can be fatal, clinical trials have shown. The patient had a rapid drop in blood pressure, suggesting that he might have received treatment with nitrates. The doctor said that the patient might have had a history of coronary artery disease, but that he did not show any symptoms.
The public affairs office of the hospital confirmed that it had reported a Sunday morning death of a man in his mid-50s to the Massachusetts Medical Examiner's office. "They can determine the cause of death. We cannot discuss patient information," said spokeswoman Victoria Brady. She was not aware of the second heart attack case. The medical examiner's office declined to comment.
The second case involved a 61-year-old Mexican man who had a heart attack Tuesday morning. He had coronary artery disease five years ago and underwent an angioplasty. He was taking Zestril, a common heart drug in the ACE inhibitor class. He had never taken nitrates, according to the doctor, who said he had spoken with the patient.
BTW, if this event causes a temporary blip up in VVUS, I'd take your money and run. I'll short it. |
