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

To: AlienTech who wrote (20276)	4/4/1999 2:02:00 PM
From: Zebra 365	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23519

Iraq Bans Use of Viagra .c The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraq has banned Viagra, less than four months after the Health Ministry approved the U.S.-made impotency drug. The ban was made public Sunday in Babil daily newspaper, which is published by President Saddam Hussein's eldest son, Odai. The newspaper cited ''health sources'' as warning against the import, use or purchase of Viagra pills in Iraq. ''The ban includes Arabs and foreigners who bring the pills to Iraq,'' the paper said. The newspaper's sources advised border points against allowing visitors to the country from entering with ''such poisons.'' Health authorities in December allowed the private sector to import Viagra, but said the state would not because the pills are not ''a badly needed humanitarian item.'' Because of sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, most of Iraq's food and medicine is imported under a U.N.-approved program that allows Iraq to sell limited quantities of oil to buy necessities for its 22 million people.>>> Before BigKNY3 says it, I'll say it. This likely has nothing to do with the safety of Viagra, but bringing in Viagra to Iraq means that dollars (or euros or francs) will have to flow out to pay for it, and Iraq can only export a limited amount of oil to get western currency to pay to import "essentials". Just another example of how a drug gets politicized and the banner of "safety concerns" is raised when the real reason is economical, but that excuse doesn't sell so well in the press. Zebra PS: Don't know if this is a sign of something, but I've been posting on this board for a year-and-a-half. In the past few weeks I've gotten the first harassing E-Mails about my posts (through anonymous FTP's of course) since January 1998. <gg>