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

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (7195)	3/10/1999 11:12:00 PM
From: Epicenter	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9523

What does AUA stand for (American Urological Association??) Epicenter

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (7195)	3/10/1999 11:36:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9523

Good news, BigK! <eom>

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (7195)	3/11/1999 12:15:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

Viagra stampede predicted in April Robert Walker, Calgary Herald Wednesday 10 March 1999 Gentlemen, start your engines. There'll be a stampede for Viagra when the drug hits pharmacy shelves next month, says a Calgary doctor behind a national campaign to educate physicians on the new impotence pill for men. "We call it V-day," said Calgary family doctor Richard Ward, an expert on sexual dysfunction, welcoming the news Tuesday that Health Canada has given its final approval to Pfizer Inc. to sell Viagra in Canada. "There has been tremendous interest from patients who are going to benefit from this, not only in my practice, but from speaking to physicians across the country," Ward said. It's of particular interest to patients with diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Ward described Viagra's U.S. release as "the most successful drug launch in the history of pharmaceuticals." Experts estimate it could give a boost to the sex lives of up to an estimated three million Canadian men -- 100,000 in Calgary -- who need help in the bedroom. But Alberta Blue Cross said Tuesday Viagra and other impotence drugs would likely add $16 million to the cost of its employer and individual plans. So it will not be covering it unless employers opt for higher premiums. This is almost double the $8 million to $9 million a year paid out on all antibiotic and antiviral drugs combined. Ward, who sits on an advisory board, training other Canadian doctors to teach their colleagues about the use of Viagra, said that since its launch in the U.S. 11 months ago, more than seven million prescriptions have been written there for the drug. Seventy other nations have since approved Viagra. It will be a boon to the more than half of men over 40 who suffer from some form of erectile dysfunction, said Ward, who works at Crowfoot Village Family Practice. He estimates about one-third of Canada's 15,000 family doctors have now received some form of education about prescribing Viagra as a result of the teaching program he spearheads out of the University of Calgary medical school. "This is a safe and effective therapy for erectile dysfunction," Ward said, even though there have been 130 deaths worldwide associated with Viagra. None of those deaths have been proven connected with the correct prescription of Viagra, said Ward, adding that doctors should not prescribe the drug to men using the common heart medication nitroglycerine. Each Viagra pill will cost between $10 and $15 when it hits the pharmacy shelves, said Ward. "Experience in past and ongoing clinical trials and for the past year in clinical practice around the world, has shown that Viagra is very safe when used appropriately," said cardiologist Dr. Eldon Smith, former dean of the University of Calgary medical school. "There is no epidemiological evidence that Viagra adds to the cardiovascular risk inherent in sexual activity." Smith added, "All patients should be aware of how to use Viagra appropriately. Sexual activity is a form of exercise which could pose a risk to men with severe cardiovascular disease. It is important therefore, that the safety of this level of exercise be established before Viagra or any other treatment for erectile dysfunction is utilized." calgaryherald.com

To: BigKNY3 who wrote (7195)	3/11/1999 12:19:00 AM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 9523

BBC: Public reject Viagra clampdown Wednesday, March 10, 1999 Published at 18:08 GMT The public think the government's policy on Viagra is wrong The public is overwhelmingly opposed to the government's plan to restrict NHS prescription of Viagra and other impotence treatments, a survey has found. The Department of Health has proposed that impotence treatments should only be available on prescription from GPs for men with the following conditions: Diabetes Multiple sclerosis Single gene neurological disease Spinal cord injury. Men who have had radical pelvic surgery or had their prostate removed will also qualify. But a MORI poll, based on interviews with 501 adults, shows that 85% of adults in the UK think it is unfair that men with impotence due to a spinal cord injury should receive treatment for impotence on the NHS, whereas men whose condition is caused by cancer treatments are not eligible for NHS treatment. Eight out of 10 adults (79%) also felt it unfair that impotence caused by diabetes and not heart disease could warrant NHS treatment. The survey was highlighted at the annual conference of the Impotence Association, where members called on the government to re-think its proposals, which are currently out for consultation until 28 March. The Department of Health says the consultation period was extended because of the "volume of interest" in the issue. Short-sighted proposal Dr Ian Banks, chairman of the Men's Health Forum, who attended the conference, said: "I am deeply concerned about the short-sighted government proposals on the treatment of erectile dysfunction in general practice. "When men visit their GP for treatment of erectile dysfunction, it presents a golden opportunity for picking up undiagnosed, underlying conditions which, when treated early, can make enormous savings both in money and human suffering." Sex therapist Victoria Lehmann said women can often suffer as much as the man, feeling guilty, depressed and rejected because their partners are too embarrassed to discuss the problem. "A vicious circle evolves and the relationship can fall apart very quickly", she said. Clive Gingell, told the conference that the licensing of Viagra in the UK had helped bring erectile dysfunction "out of the closet". "New and more convenient medical therapies should be welcomed, not put on the backburner as the Department of Health is doing," he said. "According to the principle of the NHS, individuals should be prescribed treatment based on clinical need, decided by their family doctor. What the government proposes on the subject of impotence flies in the face of this principle." news.bbc.co.uk