Viagra approved for sale in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Standard
February 6, 1999
STORY: THE Department of Health has approved the sale in Hong Kong of the
anti-impotency drug Viagra.
But not everybody can buy the blue pill as it requires a doctor's prescription.
The drug's manufacturer, Pfizer Corporation, said registered physicians could start
prescribing it before the Lunar New Year.
Unlike the practice in the United States, where it is bottled, Viagra will be sold in
Hong Kong in a paper box bearing a specially-designed laser label to distinguish it
from copy products.
Each box will hold four 50 mg tablets in a blister pack.
The spokesman for the health department warned that people caught illegally
selling Viagra would be liable to a maximum fine of $100,000 and two years in
prison.
The government noted overseas reports associating the deaths of some people
taking some heart medicines with the drug.
''It is therefore important that people should not take the drug without consulting
doctors,'' the spokesman said.
Urologist Dr Yip Wai-chun, a council member of the Public Doctor's Association,
had advised men that misuse of the pill could lead to a condition called priapism or
prolonged erection.
One form of misuse is by taking the pill with other forms of treatment like penile
injection therapy.
About 200,000 men in Hong Kong are believed to have erectile dysfunction and
there is a potent black market in the drug.
In the last six months of 1998, more than 9,200 Viagra tablets were seized by
Hong Kong airport Custom officers.
In the mainland, where Viagra is still illegal, it was reported to be freely available,
particularly in Guangdong, where it can cost about $400 a tablet.
Elsewhere in the region, Viagra is already available in Thailand, Philippines and
Australia.
More than 70 people have died after taking Viagra, prompting Pfizer to add new
warnings.
The company recommends that men with a history of heart disease, low blood
pressure and heart attacks should be examined before taking the pill.
hkstandard.com
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