Viagra on sale in Ulster for œ15 a pill - Black market grows for wonder drug
Wednesday September 16
By Nigel Gould.
VIAGRA is set to become one of the most popular drugs ever in Northern Ireland, a top consultant claimed today.
And already the new love wonder pill is spicing up the lives of many couples across the province - despite an NHS ban because it's too expensive.
It is understood men are buying the drug through the internet or on the black market - at up to œ15 a pill.
The Department of Health has also confirmed that the anti-impotence drug can be obtained privately from local GPs who cross refer patients not on their NHS lists.
Dr Wallace Dinsmore, principal consultant of the impotence department at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, branded Viagra as "one of the most important drug developments since the discovery of antibiotics." Dr Dinsmore, who has a number of patients on Viagra, said: "Any registered medical practitioner can supply it to patients on a named basis but they must be familiar with side affects.
"Very few doctors, however, are prepared to." But Dr Dinsmore, one of the first medical experts in the world to test the drug, said there were dangers if not properly controlled.
"It can be extremely dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands - if mixed with nitrates - poppers - for example," he said.
And he revealed that hospital accident and emergency units were now obliged to ask patients, particularly those brought in with chest pains, if they were using Viagra.
Viagra is the first oral pill for male impotency which effects more than one in 10 Ulster men.
Estimates on how much the drug will cost the NHS range from œ50m to œ1 billion a year.
The Government's total drugs bill is about œ5.5 billion a year.
Viagra might end up costing the Government even more than drugs for life threatening diseases such as heart conditions and cancer.
It has also emerged that under a loophole, GPs can cross-refer sufferers on their NHS list to other GPs in the same practice privately if they are willing to pay for the pill.
But this was condemned by the chiarman of the Men's Health Forum, Dr Ian Banks.
"I don't think it is in the best interests of the patients to be cross-referred to a doctor not familiar with their case history.
"It's discourteous but I suspect it's something which will not happen for long." Plans to make Viagra available for free next week to medical card holders south of the border are also currently being considered by Irish Health Minister Brian Cowen.
A working party report has claimed the drug, which was licensed for prescription in the Republic yesterday, could end up costing the Irish Government between IRœ7m and IRœ20m if it is offered for free.
The first supplies of the drug are expected to be available in some parts of the Republic by the middle of next week.
c Copyright Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Ltd. .
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