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To: Anthony Wong who wrote (816)	9/16/1998 11:30:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

Pay your own way, Europe tells millions of sufferers By Toby Helm, Julian Nundy, Tim Brown and Bruce Johnston The Telegraph, 16 September 1998 Makers refuse to lower price of 'love drug' SOON after Martin Bangemann, the Brussels commissioner for industry, had cleared Viagra for sale across the EU yesterday, several governments warned impotence sufferers that they, and not the state, would have to foot the bills. In Germany, Horst Seehofer, the health minister, said he was against Viagra being paid for by the state or public health insurance. German officials in Brussels explained that Viagra was a "lifestyle" drug, rather than "therapeutic". There are said to be 7.5 million men in Germany who suffer from potency problems which require treatment. Pfizer, the producers of Viagra, have said they expect it to be available in German chemists' shops from Oct 1. It will cost almost œ9 for one pill. Health ministries in Italy and Denmark took a similar line. Portuguese officials said the drug would be available on prescription, but that the state would not offset the cost to patients. There was better news for impotence sufferers in Austria, however. A health ministry spokesman said the cost would be covered by social security. Yesterday's formal clearance is likely to be followed by approval to market Viagra in other countries with close ties to the EU. Hungary is expected to make it available by the end of the year. Viagra has been available in at least a dozen non-EU countries since May. Switzerland authorised its sale on June 22, with Bulgaria following suit on Sept 2. It is also available on prescription in Thailand. The drug went back on sale in Israel on July 14 after being banned in May following the death of several people in the United States. In Latin America, Brazil authorised the sale of Viagra on June 1, followed by Costa Rica on Aug 19 and Uruguay on Aug 21. The drug is also currently available in Peru, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, and is due to go on sale in Chile later this month. France Viagra made a brief entry into France before legalisation when a restaurant in the Alps advertised dishes cooked in a Viagra sauce. The restaurant, in Thonon-les-Bains, obtained its supplies from Switzerland. After a brief burst of publicity last month, local authorities obliged the restaurant to withdraw its culinary novelty. Viagra will be available in France only on prescription and at the patient's expense. The authorities had envisaged limiting the right to prescribe to urologists, psychiatrists and other specialists but, since the costs (œ6 per tablet) will not be paid for by the state, all doctors will be allowed to prescribe it. Spain Pfizer estimate initial sales will be two tablets a week each bought by 150,000 men. The health ministry insists that no price has been fixed but a subsidised price of œ4 per pill for social security claimants is expected when it is released on prescription in late October. People who do not subscribe to social security will have to pay œ12. Italy The health authority said yesterday it would decide whether to allow Viagra to be sold only after Pfizer requested a licence to do so. But if, as expected, it was granted, the drug is unlikely to go on sale much before Christmas, and almost certainly will not be subsidised by the national health, which is already proving too much of a burden on Italy's deficit. Not only would a prescription be required, but it would have to be given by a specialist doctor, and "only in cases of impotency". A minsitry spokesman said: "This is not some kind of love potion after all."