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Biotech / Medical : VVUS: VIVUS INC. (NASDAQ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DaiS who wrote (11493)	7/15/1998 6:12:00 AM
From: DaiS	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23519

Family doctors banned from giving Viagra - UK Daily Express, July 5 1998, Patrick O'Flynn 'Viagra, the male impotence wonder drug that threatens to bankrupt the NHS, is to be rationed. The Government will achieve this by banning family doctors from prescribing it. Only hospitals or specialist impotency clinics will be able to hand out the drug. Ministers believe this is the only way to keep the lid on a huge new drug bill which the NHS cannot afford. The Department of Health restriction will calm fears of a œ1billion-a-year headache for the NHS when Viagra becomes available in the autumn. It brought criticism last night, though, from BMA expert Mr Derek Machin, a senior consultant urologist. He said that prescribing Viagra only via hospitals and specialists will deprive many patients who could benefit from it and damage the interests of other patients too. Mr Machin fears that urologists will be overwhelmed by the number of men seeking viagra and that waiting times for patients with other conditions like prostate problems will soar. A Whitehall source said last night: "The plans will remove the incentive for men who do not really need Viagra to beat a path to their GP's door in the hope of getting it the same day."'