Viagra could eventually be available over the counter in the UK!
Viagra On NHS 'Would Be Targeted On Clinical Need'
Wednesday July 15, 7:45 AM
The revolutionary impotence treatment Viagra will not be used as "a recreational drug" at the expense of NHS resources, the Government has pledged.
Amid fears from GPs that demand for the drug could place a œ1 billion burden on their budgets, Health Minister of State Alan Milburn insisted it would only be prescribed to patients with a legitimate medical case.
"It is vital that any prescribing should be closely targeted on patients with genuine clinical need," he told the Commons in a short late-night debate on the issue.
"Viagra is unusual, if not unique, in the scope for patients using it as a recreational drug, rather than for real health need," he stressed.
"I am determined to ensure NHS resources are not frittered away in this fashion."
Mr Milburn told MPs the drug could be cleared for sale in Britain in less than three months if it passed EU tests - and could eventually be made available over the counter at chemists.
In the meantime, the Government had been "giving serious thought" to the potential use and costs of Viagra, and the Standing Medical Advisory Committee had been asked to develop guidance for the NHS on how it could be handled.
Stressing the Government was keeping the situation under review, as the drug has not yet been licensed, Mr Milburn said GPs should not be left to meet the demand for Viagra when it arrived in Britain.
"The Government does not want to see GPs burdened with the wide expectations which have been built up around this drug."
But ministers recognised impotence was, for some patients, "a significant clinical condition for which effective treatment may legitimately be provided on the NHS".
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