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

To: flickerful who wrote (3978)	7/7/1998 2:28:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9523

British doctors call for orderly roll out of Viagra Tuesday July 7, 5:09 PM CARDIFF, Wales, July 8 (Reuters) - British doctors called on the government on Tuesday to tighten the criteria for introducing new drugs ahead of the anticipated licensing this autumn of the male impotence drug, Viagra. Delegates at the British Medical Association's (BMA) annual meeting passed a motion demanding that the government "urgently review" its procedure for introducing expensive new medications. At a press briefing, Dr. John Chisholm, head of the BMA's general medical services committee, said that the government needed better procedures for vetting new drugs. But in the case of Pfizer Inc's Viagra, new procedures may be less urgent than the need for new money to finance potential demand for the new drug, he said. "I think there is a genuine clinical need for this drug," Chisholm said. "The NHS (National Health Service) won't be able to cope without extra funding," he added. In answer to a parliamentary question last month, Public Health Minister Tessa Jowell said that Viagra, if licensed, would be available on NHS prescription to meet identified clinical need. This effectively would make the drug available on a subsidised basis. "We will be considering whether guidance to clinicians or any other action is required," Jowell said at the time. Viagra currently is being reviewed by European regulators for sale throughout the European Union. Last month, a panel of the regulatory body gave the medication a positive opinion, paving the way for full approval in the autumn. Urologist Dr Derek Machin of Fazakerley Hospital in Liverpool estimated that the cost of supplying Viagra on prescription to patients in the NHS could be at least 125 million pounds ($204.8 million) per year. But this could easily rise to more than one billion pounds annually as patient expectations rise. "Viagra is a splendid new drug that will change the life styles and quality of life of large numbers of people," Machin told the briefing. He added that the drug may in future also be licensed to treat female sexual dysfunction. Machin said that there was a danger the drug could be abused, but this was related to the fact that impotence is very difficult to diagnose. "The only basis for diagnosis is what patients tell us," he said, adding that tests for erectal function were not clinically very useful. The BMA doctors estimated that one in 10 British men may be eligible for Viagra and the prescribing demand could quickly overwhelm the country's limited urological services. Urologists will in many cases be required to evaluate a patient's need for the medication. Britain has an estimated 400 urologists, or about the same number as Los Angeles, Machin said. Dr. Peter Holden, the motion's sponsor and a general practitioner, said that there could be as many as 250 men eligible for Viagra in his practice. "If we were to prescribe Viagra for 80 per cent of them, at six pounds a tablet, two tablets per week, this would add 125,000 pounds to my allocated prescribing budget," he said. "Thus 2.22 percent of my practice population would devour 16 per cent of my current drug budget," he said. "We urgently need guidelines and a proper programme for rolling out expensive new drugs," he said. ($1=.6105 Pound) yahoo.co.uk