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To: Anthony Wong who wrote (347)	6/17/1998 6:25:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 1722

Viagra set for Ulster debut - Minister says impotency pill could be made available on NHS Wednesday June 17 By Nigel Gould, Health Correspondent. THE new love wonder pill Viagra is expected to make its Ulster debut before the end of the year and it could be available on the NHS. UK Public Health Minister Tessa Jowell said that if the drug was licensed it would be prescribed ''to meet identified clinical need''. In a Commons written reply, she said: ''We will be considering whether guidance to clinicians or any other action is required.'' The European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products is considering an application for Viagra to be given marketing authorisation in Europe. It is thought the drug could be available on prescription by the autumn. Ulster doctors expect Viagra first tested at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast to smash records. It is the first oral pill for male impotency, which afflicts more than one in 10 men in Ulster. Clinical tests carried out at the Royal for four years from 1994 gave the pill the green light. And Dr Wallace Dinsmore, Principal Consultant of the Erectile Dysfunction Department at the Royal, said the local clinical tests were among the most important carried out at the hospital. Since it was introduced in the US in March, 1.7 million prescriptions have been written for a million Viagra patients 80% to men older than 50. British doctors are likely to warn the drug must not be prescribed to men with liver disorders and low blood pressure. Most at risk are thought to be those who have had a heart attack or stroke. Viagra's manufacturer, Pfizer, has stressed the need for a thorough physical before deciding to take the anti- impotence pill. The drug was hailed as a huge breakthrough in treating impotence when it was launched. It was originally developed by Pfizer to boost blood flow to the heart for angina patients. Researchers investigating its effects during trials noticed it also increased blood supplies to the penis. Viagra became the fastest- selling drug ever launched, with 30,000 prescriptions in the first week alone. Shares in Pfizer have since soared. Last week, a millionaire Wall Street trader donated œ600,000 to a New York hospital so Viagra can be given to elderly and poor men who are impotent. A helpline set up to provide confidential advice to impotent Britons has been inundated with calls since Viagra brought the problem out into the open. In the first week of May alone the Impotence Association helpline received more than 3,000 calls, almost a quarter of the total for 1997. During the first four months of the year the helpline had 13,305 inquiries, compared with 12,707 for the whole of last year, and just over 5,000 in 1996. A spokeswoman said not all the calls were about Viagra, the wonder drug said to make a man in his 60s feel 18 again. But the publicity and debate surrounding the drug had made men more willing to seek help c Copyright Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Ltd. . yahoo.co.uk

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (347)	6/17/1998 6:30:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

Viagra May Go On Prescription Wednesday June 17, 11:29 AM Viagra, the new anti-impotence drug widely used in the US, may be made available on the NHS, the Government has indicated. Public Health Minister Tessa Jowell said that if the drug was licensed it would be prescribed "to meet identified clinical need". In a Commons written reply, she declared: "We will be considering whether guidance to clinicians or any other action is required." The European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products is considering an application for Viagra to be given marketing authorisation in Europe. It is thought the drug could be available on prescription by the autumn. Since it was introduced in the US in March, 1.7 million prescriptions have been written for a million Viagra patients - 80% to men older than 50. But 24 users have died, eight during clinical trials. British doctors are likely to warn the drug must not be prescribed to men with liver disorders and low blood pressure. Most at risk are thought to be those who have had a heart attack or stroke. Viagra's manufacturer, Pfizer, has stressed the need for a thorough physical before deciding to take the anti-impotence pill. The drug was hailed as a huge breakthrough in treating impotence when it was launched. It was originally developed by Pfizer to boost blood flow to the heart for angina patients. Researchers investigating its effects during trials noticed it also increased blood supplies to the penis. yahoo.co.uk