Melbourne: Sex wonder-drug fails to arouse much interest
The Age, September 15, 1998
By SALLY FINLAY
After months of hype, Viagra hit pharmacy shelves around
Australia yesterday. But at $70 for four pills, the product pitched
as a sexual wonder-drug didn't excite much interest around
Melbourne.
At his city pharmacy in Exhibition Street, Mr Alec Kurlender
sold stockings, cold tablets and the odd tube of haemorrhoid
cream, but no Viagra.
''We have a small amount in stock as we weren't expecting to
be besieged,'' he said.
Mr Ian Herbert from Herbert's Pharmacy in Swanston Street
hadn't sold the famous blue pill and said his mainly younger
clientele were unlikely to have it prescribed. ''We serve a high
student population who I don't think will need any help in that
area,'' he said.
Suburban pharmacies did a little better, with one Glen Waverley
chemist filling two prescriptions for the drug.
Despite the slow debut, Mr Bill Scott of the Pharmacy Guild is
confident that demand will grow. ''It is more like a phenomenon
than a drug release and there will be large sales of the product'',
he said.
Since Viagra's release in America last March, four million men
have swallowed some 30 million doses.
Mr Scott said pharmacists would need to be mindful of the
dangers of the drug. ''Using Viagra with other nitrate drugs like
those used for angina can be a dangerous or even fatal
combination,'' he said.
To be safe, pharmacists will need to ask questions of their
customers about the sensitive issue of erectile dysfunction.
''Men aren't used to talking about things. They get their wives to
buy personal items so we need to reassure them that it is just a
condition like any other,'' he said.
On the day of the first Australian sales, the medical industry has
reinforced that Viagra is for a particular condition and that it is
not a cure-all, nor is it intended for recreational use.
The president of the Australian Society of Impotence Medicine,
Professor Doug Lording, said: ''There could be quite a lot of
men who have been sitting back anticipating that Viagra is going
to solve their problems and it won't.''
It is aimed at men aged between 40 and 70, and a women's
version is being developed.
American men have spent more than $700 million on Viagra.
Pfizer, who spent $500million developing the drug, expects the
Australian market to top one million a year with about 100,000
Australian men popping the prescription pill over the next 12
months.
Pfizer is also poised for profit. The company will receive $48.28
from every packet, distributors take about $4, chemists another
$18.
Pfizer hopes Viagra will be placed on the pharmaceutical
benefits scheme. Users cannot claim a Medicare rebate on the
drug until it is on the PBS.
with AAP
theage.com.au |
