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To: Anthony Wong who wrote (213)	6/4/1998 8:55:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1722

Wife says spouse died after he used Viagra By Matthew G. Kreamer The Fresno Bee (Published June 4, 1998) VISALIA - A Visalia woman believes the wildly popular anti-impotence drug Viagra played a role in the death of her 65-year-old husband. Gerri Howorth said Wednesday that Harry "Mike" Howorth collapsed immediately after they had sexual relations Friday morning. Mr. Howard had taken one of the pills an hour earlier, she said. "He started shaking and jerking, and I said, 'Mike, are you all right?' " Gerri Howorth said. "He never answered. He just lay there with glassy eyes." Her husband never regained consciousness and died Sunday at Kaweah Delta District Hospital. His death certificate says he died of respiratory failure. Gerri Howorth said her husband had a history of heart trouble and had once taken nitroglycerine, a heart medication that can cause side effects when taken with Viagra. "The doctor said his heart was good. He hadn't taken nitroglycerine in at least 10 years," Gerri Howorth said. "He'd been healthy." She declined to provide the name of her husband's doctor. Viagra's manufacturer, Pfizer, has warned men who take heart medication against using its pill. There have been six reported deaths of Viagra users in the United States. A possible seventh case involving a man in Cambridge, Mass., was being investigated this week. Fresno urologist Gilbert Dale said Viagra probably isn't to blame in most of the cases. "Basically what this is is, if you take a population of older people and make them sexually active, just the exercise could cause the problem," said Dale, who was not Mr. Howorth's urologist. The sexual activity-related death rate among older people is similar whether they take Viagra or not, Dale said. Viagra, the first pill to treat impotence, has attracted 1.5 million prescriptions since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it in March. Generally, Viagra is a safe drug even for people with heart conditions as long as they aren't taking nitroglycerine, said Dale, who has had his Fresno practice for 22 years. The combination of Viagra and nitroglycerine could substantially lower blood pressure. Dale said he has about 300 patients taking Viagra and none have stopped taking it for medical reasons. That doesn't make Gerri Howorth feel any better. She said she paid more than $2,000 to have an autopsy performed on her husband Wednesday after Tulare County officials declined to do one. Preliminary results could be available as early as today, but laboratory results could take up to six weeks. William L. Seymour, Howorth's lawyer, said they must wait until the results are available before deciding what action to take, if any. "What we think we're looking for is some kind of gross anomaly - a ruptured artery, for instance - or massive damage to the heart muscle," Seymour said. "We were somewhat surprised by the physician's finding on the death certificate because the county was investigating and we thought they would do an autopsy." Seymour said the county did not perform an autopsy because Mr. Howorth died under a physician's care Sunday and not at his home Friday. A typical autopsy would probably not detect Viagra because it's such a new drug, said Tulare County sheriff's Sgt. Kurt Mitchell, who works in the Coroner's Office. Seymour, though, agreed with Dale's assessment that Mr. Howorth's age, combined with increased sexual activity, could have caused his death. "If you're 60, 70, 80 years old and have not had sex in four, five or six years, it could certainly be logical that the act itself could be a triggering mechanism," he said. Gerri Howorth said her husband got a prescription for Viagra and a sample packet containing three pills from a local urologist Thursday morning. He awoke about 5 a.m. Friday and took one of the pills, she said. "I remember him getting a drink of water, and he must have taken one of the pills because there were only two left," she said. The couple had sexual relations and he collapsed immediately afterward, she said. He was declared brain dead at the hospital and taken off a respirator Sunday. The couple traveled extensively in their motor home and had planned to leave Tuesday for Oregon. Mr. Howorth spent 22 years in the military, serving in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He retired as a 1st sergeant in the Marines. Gerri Howorth is convinced Viagra played a part in her husband's death. "I'm going to go on Maury Povich, Montel - all of them - and I'm going to scream from the roof until they listen," she said. "If I had known then what I know now, he would have never taken it." Services for Mr. Howorth will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Miller Memorial Chapel. fresnobee.com