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Biotech / Medical : PFE (Pfizer) How high will it go? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (8245)	10/26/1999 9:49:00 PM
From: synchro	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9523

The last sentence in your URL sounded like a joke, tho I'm not really sure: "Already, Viagra has been shown to prolong the lifespan of flowers, fruits and vegetable, which could have big commercial benefits if costs can be contained." So Viagra is a fertilizer too? How romantic!

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (8245)	10/27/1999 6:03:00 PM
From: Mick Mørmøny	Respond to of 9523

US License Boards Urged To Regulate Viagra On Web By Gene Emery BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. state licensing boards should restrict easy Internet access to the anti-impotence drug Viagra and other medications that could produce deadly side effects if administered improperly, researchers urged in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. Viagra, like many other drugs, is widely available over the Web without a written prescription, said the research team led by Dr. Katrina Armstrong of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. But investigators frequently found the drug sites failed to offer information about potential side-effects or screen their customers' health problems. Armstrong and her colleagues called on state licensing boards to ''move quickly to establish and enforce guidelines'' to control how doctors and pharmacists dispense such drugs over the Internet. Being able to get drugs on line may be convenient, especially if the medicines have few side effects, Armstrong's group said. But in cases like Viagra, where the side effects can be deadly, the researchers said ''these potential advantages are likely to be outweighed'' by not having a doctor's evaluation or a pharmacist's check for dosage and potential drug interaction. Armstrong and her colleagues examined 86 Web sites that offered to deliver Viagra directly to consumers without requiring a traditional prescription. Over a 10-day period, nine of those sites disappeared from the Net, but of those that remained, 45 percent did not require customers to answer any medical questions to determine if Viagra would be safe and effective for them. Patients who take Viagra, made by Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE - news), risk developing dangerously low blood pressure if they are also taking nitrate-type drugs used to combat heart disease. Of the Web sites that asked about nitrate use, 38 percent never used brand names or generic names, which makes it easier for patients to recognize the names of specific drugs they are taking. ''Although it is clear that 40 percent of the sites that do not ask for medical information cannot identify persons for whom sildenafil (the generic name for Viagra) would be inappropriate, it is not clear whether the sites that request medical information act on it,'' the researchers said. Only 27 of the 46 sites that posed medical questions stated that a physician would review the questionnaire. In no case was the physician's qualifications given. More than two-thirds of the Web sites, 68 percent, warned consumers that they were not responsible for any problems caused by the drug. The researchers also questioned whether the Internet sites actually dispensed Viagra. ''Since some sites offered sildenafil at a price as low as $5 per 50-milligram tablet, it may be that some of these medications do not contain the active drug,'' they warned. Armstrong and her colleagues found that 71 percent of the sites were in the United States and 14 percent were in the United Kingdom. The remaining 15 percent were in scattered locations. ''Effective strategies to address sites outside the United States may require cooperative efforts of customs authorities, the pharmaceutical industry, and national and international regulatory agencies,'' they said.