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Biotech / Medical : Pharma News Only (pfe,mrk,wla, sgp, ahp, bmy, lly) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: 993racer who wrote (351)	6/18/1998 5:36:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 1722

Viagra stirs sex debate in Mexico Thursday June 18 3:55 PM EDT MEXICO CITY (UPI) - The Mexican government's approval of the anti- impotence pill Viagra has given rise to fears about information about the drug and heightened awareness over issues of sexuality in a country where open talk about the issue is still taboo. Sociologist Pablo Gutierrez says Mexicans have only been told what the drug is for and that it has side effects, not what the side effects are. ''Everybody has questions and nobody has answers,'' he added. Viagra's maker, Pfizer, and Schering-Plough, which is providing similar tablets called Z-Max for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, have bought full-page advertisements in national newspapers to announce their products since the Health Ministry okayed manufacture and sales in April. But while reports from the United States are of drugstore aisles jammed with men waiting to fill prescriptions, Mexican consumers have been cautious about the impotence pill, partly because of the lack of information about the drug. Human Rights activist Jorge Sanchez blames the lack of Viagra literacy partly on ''conservative sectors that don't want it to become a public issue for fear it will encourage promiscuity.'' ''One of the principle problems is that the issue of sexuality is taboo in Mexico,'' he said. The information void has contributed to a demand for contraband products from people who consider Viagra a quick fix for their sexual problems, says journalist Laura Martinez. ''Viagra already is being sold for 50 pesos ($5.5) by street vendors in Tepito (in downtown Mexico City), without prescriptions or anything,'' Martinez adds, ''once again irresponsibility wins the battle over information.'' Copyright 1998 by United Press International. All rights reserved. dailynews.yahoo.com

To: 993racer who wrote (351)	6/18/1998 5:38:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

Pfizer edges up on Schneider sale, earnings hopes Thursday June 18, 4:16 pm Eastern Time NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - Shares of Pfizer Inc (PFE - news) edged higher Thursday on enthusiasm for the drugmaker's plan to sell its Schneider medical devices unit and optimism of solid second-quarter earnings, analysts said. Boston Scientific Corp (BSX - news) on Tuesday agreed to pay $2.1 billion in cash for the Pfizer unit whose strong suit is stents, small wire-mesh tubes used to strengthen weak blood vessels in the heart. The unit, based in Switzerland, reported sales of about $330 million in 1997. Pfizer shares ended 2-3/16 higher at 114-3/8 on the New York Stock Exchange. OrbiMed Advisors drug analyst Arvind Desai said the Schneider deal seemed to please investors who support Pfizer's continuing efforts to remove itself from the medical devices market, a business with lower margins than pharmaceuticals. Desai added there was some expectation Pfizer's second quarter earnings, to be announced next month, will be higher than the mid-teen year-on-year percentage growth some analysts had projected in recent months amid a lack of earnings guidance from Pfizer. "I expect at least 18 percent growth," Desai said. biz.yahoo.com